Good Heavens, It's Rider Time!
by 0n3dgeGaming
Summary: An order for a single Ride Watch just HAD to gone wrong, didn't it? Now I'm here, in a world where monsters with bone masks are the norm and people walk around with giant scythes... okay, that's like one person, but still. Well, at least I got some spiffy new Riders powers from the deal. And what's with this Woz guy? Whatever, I'll just see how this goes.
1. Chapter 1: Beginning Hour

**(Author's Note)**

 **Hey guys! 0n3dgeGaming here.**

 **So from the moment episode one came out, I've had the urge to write something ZI-O related, and well, this is kind of the product of it. Side note: I think this might be the first ZI-O fanfiction... in general. I might be wrong by this point, but that's neat... I guess.**

 **I feel like I'm jumping the gun a bit... Nah, this'll turn out good in the end.**

 **I wan't to be clear from the start, this story is gonna take it's time getting to the henshin, it'll most likely show up by chapter two. Also, this story will be worked on whenever I feel like it, which means there might be some gaps of time between chapters. Chapter 2 is already being worked on, so I don't think it'll be too long before that gets up.**

 **With all that said, I hope you enjoy!  
**

 **Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN KAMEN RIDER ZI-O OR RWBY. ZI-O is owned by Toei Company and RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth. I only own the OC.**

 **ON WITH THE STORY!**

* * *

I would love to start this by saying that I've had weirder days… but I've told lies that weren't

even close to being as stupid as that one.

At the very least I can say that the morning was normal. I woke up at the crack of noon, fitting since my internal clock was most likely messed up almost to the point of no repair.

It was… the ninth of September for me, and I was awaiting a package to come in. I had previously ordered another item, known as the Evol Driver, but luck had it that it never showed up. So with the money that I had once again found in my hands, I had ordered the build ride watch over from Japan.

I made sure I chose a shipping method that didn't leave me waiting 2 and a half months.

My eyes blinked the sleep out, as I pulled myself into a sitting position. "...i need a drink… heartburn is a bitch in the morning…"

I climbed off my bed, my foot stepping on a box of cardboard, which proceeded to give way underneath me.

I sighed. "My room… also needs to be cleaned up… yay…"

I walked out my room, throwing a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt on. The T-shirt had the words: Sarcasm, because beating up stupid people is illegal.

I like to consider myself a funny man.

I grabbed the milk from the fridge and filled a glass with it. I then proceeded to chug it down as quickly as humanly possible.

"Ah… crisis averted…" I muttered, putting the milk back in the fridge and the glass in the sink. "Now, food…"

Before I could get too far, I heard the doorbell ring. I stopped what I was doing, which was taking out a frozen pizza, as I walked towards the door.

I placed my hand against the door handle, and opened the door. Outside was a delivery guy with a package under his arm. "Order for… Bryce Bridged?"

"That's me." I said, as he handed me something that looked like a debit machine, but was designed for signatures. I took the touch pen on the side of the device and scribbled my signature.

"Have a good day." Said the man, as he walked away towards the delivery vehicle. In the passenger seat, a man with a hood on his head sat. In his hands was a strange looking book. I blinked for a moment, and he was gone.

"...Yeah… You too…" I muttered, closing the door behind me. I looked down at the package in my hands, as I read the item description. "DX Build Ride Watch… Well, it's here…"

I walked over to the kitchen, as I unplugged my phone and headphones from the nearby wall. I placed the charger and my phone in my left pocket, and then rested my headphones around my neck.

"Alright, now let's open this up…" I muttered, grabbing the scissors nearby. I quickly got to work leveling the shipping box down to the product box. I nodded, before opening the side up, as I slid out… a black ride watch.

"...Uh… What the hell?" I asked aloud, as I took the ride watch out of the plastic holding. "...There's no tab that needs to be pulled out… and the button isn't pushing in… did I get a gashapon release? But… that doesn't explain the black colouring… and the fact the dial isn't turning…"

I sighed, placing the ride watch in my pocket. "Great, I can't ever have nice things I guess…"

I walked over to the living room, as I grabbed my tv remote and pressed the 'apps' button. The Tv turned on, and a row of apps loaded up along the bottom of the screen. I scrolled about 4 to the right and selected youtube. I sighed, taking out the ride watch. "...I'm going to need to send a photo of you to the seller when I ask for a refund…"

I scrolled through youtube, before I stumbled across a video. "Red trailer? Isnt this that… ruby thing my friend was trying to get me into?" I looked to the side, before pressing the play button. "Eh, might as well check it out."

As I watched the video buffer, I felt the Ride Watch in my hand… start to pulse. I looked down to see it start shining, and a second later, I was falling into a pile of snow.

"JESUS CHRIST!" I exclaimed, jumping back out of the snow, dropping the Ride Watch. As the Ride Watch landed into the snow bank, the light that had shined earlier started to fade, the Ride Watch back to normal. "What the hell was that?"

I looked around. "...Why the hell is there snow everywhere? I know I live in canada but it's SEPTEMBER! Not DECEMBER!"

I crossed my arms, a shiver running up my spine. "...What… what was I doing earlier? I remember loading up youtube… and… what video was I watching again?" I asked myself, before I looked down, remembering I hadn't worn socks when I came downstairs earlier. "Oh that's not good… Okay, find out where I am and work from there."

I started walking away, leaving the Ride Watch in the pile of snow. It's been more trouble than what it was worth, so why should I bring it along?

I slowly moved through the forest, shivering all the while. Eventually I saw what looked to be an open field ahead of me. It was still snow covered, but it would let me take a look at the sky and see if I found any constellations that I might recognize. I walked onto the open area, and looked up. At a first glance, none of the stars in the sky seemed to match any I've seen.

And then my eyes landed on the moon.

"What the…!?" I muttered, looking at the shattered moon. "The moon… Holy shit… It looks like someone blew open the side of it from the inside…" In my, I felt something try to nag at me, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out what it was.

My thoughts were cut off by the sound of something growling at me. I turned around, seeing a large group of what looked to be black werewolves, each one wearing an identical white mask with red highlights.

"...Nice… wolves?" I asked, before one charged me, causing me to break into a sprint in the opposite direction. "Not nice! NOT NICE! NO NO NO NOPE NO NOPE! NOT NICE!"

I looked behind me for a second, only to see the wolf lunge at me. I spun around, falling onto my ass as I raised my arms in a last pitiful act of self preservation.

And then, a gun shot was fired, and another, and another, and then a girl in a red cloak appeared in between me and the wolf, a giant red scythe in her hands as she cleaved the head off the wolf in a quick beheading. The head dropped to the ground as smoke started to rise from the creature as it slowly disintegrated.

The girl looked towards me, a pair of silver eyes staring into my green ones. "You okay?"

"Yeah… I mean, not for long with those things!" I shouted forward. "Behind you!"

Red suddenly disappeared in a flurry of rose petals, before reappearing behind the next wolf, as she quickly sliced it's arm off, and then it's torso down the middle. "Badass…" I muttered, standing onto my feet, as I watched the hooded girl get to work, slicing and dicing the various monsters around us.

And then, she collapsed her scythe, and an explosion of sound erupted in my ears. I held my hands to my head as I watched her fire round after round from what I first assumed was just a mechanical scythe.

"WHAT!?" I exclaimed, before the girl quickly shifted her weapon back into it's scythe form. I watched as one of the wolves lunged at her, only for her body to break apart and scatter into a pile of rose petals floating in the wind. "...What the fu-"

"Heads up!" Shouted the girl, as I snapped my neck upwards, finding her up in the air, her form highlighted by the light of the broken moon behind her. I watched with bated breath as she dropped down, sniper shots blasting in the distance as the hord of wolves around me slowly fell to the ground, bullet holes in multiple places.

The girl finally landed, as a cloud of black smoke rose around us, the bodies of the wolves disintegrating. The girl turned around, her hood falling off her head as I took in the face of my saviour. She looked young, probably around the age of 15 or so. Her hair was a mix of black and red. Her eyes shined silver like they had when I first saw them- and... she was looking at me funny now.

"Hello?" She asked, leaning in suddenly. "You still there?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry." I said, blinking back to my senses as I looked around. "Holy shit…"

"Language!" I looked back at the girl with a raised eyebrow, she had her hands on her hips and a look on her face that looked like it was meant to be scolding. It turns out, when a girl fails to look like they're trying to scold you, it just looks rather cute, kinda like right now. I looked behind her, finding her scythe still stabbed into the snow.

"...Sorry?" I said, unsure, as she nodded with a smile on her face. "...What the hell was all that?"

"What do you mean?" She asked, a confused look on her face.

"Uh… The scythe that's also a gun… the army of black bone mask wearing wolves… whatever that petels thing was… I have SEVERAL questions." I said, motioning all around us.

"Oh, that…" The Girl said. Before she could continue, I saw a black form charge her from behind.

"BEHIND YOU!" I shouted, as the girl seemed to grab her scythe and with a single flourish, decapitate the beast just as it was about to bite into her shoulder, the head flying a few steps behind me, before it started to disintegrate.

"I'm a huntress in training! This weapon here is my baby, Crescent Rose, and I just finished saving you from a pack of grimm!" Said the girl, as she folded her weapon up into a slab the size of a messenger bag. "I'm Ruby, what's yours?"

"...Bryce. Bryce Bridged…" I said, swallowing a lump in my throat, as I looked around.

"Nice to meet you!" Said Ruby. "If you don't mind me asking… why are you out here right now? You do know the grimm here are getting more and more aggressive, right?"

"Uh, well… what about you? Why are you here?" I asked, shifting the attention off of me. "If it's as dangerous as you said, why come?"

"That's… personal reasons." The girl said, looking to the side, a sad look on her face.

"Oh… Sorry." I said, licking my lips. "I uh… Don't exactly know where I am?"

"You… don't know where you are?" Asked Ruby, as I nodded, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Yeah… One moment I'm back home… the next I'm in a snowy field with a moon that seemed to have exploded a second later." I said, looking around. "I also don't remember having wolves that aggressive around. I don't even think wolves could get masks like those…"

"You… Don't know what the grimm are?" Asked Ruby.

"Out of all that, the fact I don't know what the weird wolves are is the biggest point? Uh, hello… entirely different moon here!" I said, as Ruby looked at me.

"...Hey, what's that in your hand?" Asked Ruby, as I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "The black circular thing."

"What black circular- What the hell!?" I exclaimed, dropping the Ride Watch once again, finding it had found its way back to me. "How the hell did it…?"

"Ooh, what's this?" Asked Ruby, as she picked up the Ride Watch. I sighed, rubbing the back of my head.

"The reason I'm here." I said, taking the Ride Watch out of her hand. I flipped it around, looking at the pattern on the face of the watch. "It's called a Ride Watch… but it's not active right now. I think it needs an emotional response to activate, but I could care less about that right now."

I turned back to Ruby, a sheepish look on my face. "So uh… you mind if I stick with you for now? I don't really have a way to defend myself and all…"

"Huh? Oh, no problem! I have one other thing to do real quick though." Said Ruby.

"That's fine, you're in charge boss." I said, as we started walking further into the forest nearby.

I looked over at Ruby. "So… what's a huntress?"

"You don't know what a huntress is!?" She exclaimed, turning to me in almost a flash.

"Well… I know YOU'RE one… in training, which actually kinda makes me scared of FULLY trained huntresses… and that I think it has something to do with the… uh, grimm?" I said, scratching the back of my neck.

"Hunters and Huntresses are the protectors of humanity, we protect people like you, from the monster of the world, the grimm." Said Ruby, as I looked at the snow falling around us.

"Huh, that's neat." I said, as I looked up at the moon. "What happened to the moon?"

"No one knows, it's just been like that for as long as anyone remembers." Said Ruby, as she looked to me. "...You don't really know a lot of things."

"Every second I spend here gives me more of a reason to think that I'm on another planet entirely… Ruby?" She nodded, as I continued. "The moon at home was completely whole, and there… isn't any grimm to speak of. And by extension I guess that includes hunters and huntresses."

"Woah… So does that make you an alien?" Asked Ruby, looking at me in wonder.

"...Maybe? The better question is how and why am I here?" I asked, looking at the Ride Watch. "...It must have something to do with this."

"...We're here." Said Ruby, as I looked ahead to see a cliff side, on the edge was a grave, english seemed to have been etched into the stone. _Summer Rose 'Thus Kindly I Scatter'_

"Hey mom…" Said Ruby, as I took a step back. I let out a breath at the sudden heavy feeling in the air. "It's been a while… Dad said I shouldn't go right now with all the grimm around… but I needed to talk with you."

' _So… Ruby Rose is her full name then…'_ I thought to myself.

"...Yang's heading off to beacon in a month… It'll be weird for a while without Yang around." Ruby continued, looking down at the ground. "Dad is doing better. He's started giving Yang some pointers before she heads off."

"...Uncle Qrow left for another mission of his a week ago…" Said Ruby, letting out a sigh. "I wish he would stay around longer than days at a time…"

"...I'm starting my second last year of signal in a month." Said Ruby, looking back up at the grave. "...I'm going to become a huntress. Those… heroes from those stories you told… I won't ever forget that image of what I want to be."

"...I even saved someone." Said Ruby, a small smile forming on her lips. "He's… rather strange, but he seems nice enough. His name is Bryce, and I'm almost certain he's not from this world."

"...I miss you mom... I'll come talk to you later." Said Ruby, walking away from the grave.

I let my eyes trail on the grave, before I walked towards it. I crouched down, and closed my eyes. I took in a breath, before I opened my eyes again. "...Your daughter is every bit the hero she wants to be… I think you'd be proud… but I don't think I need worry about letting you know that."

I stood up, and turned back towards Ruby. "...You want to talk about it?" I asked her, as I walked away from the grave.

"...Mom was a huntress." Ruby said, as we started walking back into the forest. "She was awesome. Slayer of demons and master of cookies…"

"Sounds like you really looked up to her." I said, as we walked back into the empty field.

"She was my hero…" Said Ruby.

"...I meant what I said at the grave, you know." I said, looking at her. "I think she'd really be proud of you. I mean, you saved my butt, that's all I need to see you as a hero."

"...Thanks… uh…" Ruby stopped, looking at me.

"Bryce. Bryce Bridged." I said, holding my hand out. "Now let's not go forgetting it this time."

"Alright then, Bryce." Said Ruby, shaking my hand. "Ruby. Ruby Rose."

Ruby had ended up making it sound like she was James Bond for some reason, leading to me stifling a laugh.

"Ruby! You here!?" A worried voice yelled out, as Ruby let out a gasp.

"Yang!" She shouted, suddenly disappearing in a flurry of petals, as I felt the wind around me pick up, tripping me back into the snow.

"Gah-Cold…" I grit out, pushing myself out of the snow. I looked ahead to see the red cloak wearing girl meeting up with what I could only assume to be someone trying to mimic goldilocks.

"Why are you here? You know dad said the grimm in this area were getting more aggressive." Said who I assumed was Yang, as she stood next to Ruby. Real Older Sister kind of vibe. Certainly more… developed than her sister.

...Stop staring dammit.

"I know… but I wanted to see her…" Said Ruby, before turning to me. "Oh yeah! Bryce, let me introduce you to my sister!"

"One sec!" I said, jogging over. I stopped in front of Yang, standing a few inches taller than her.

"Bryce, this is my sister Yang. Yang, this is Bryce." Said Ruby, motioning from one to the other.

I extended my hand. "So you're sisters? You… I want to guess half siblings?" I asked, to which Yang nodded.

"Yep! Most people find it hard to believe we're siblings at first. So, who might you be?" Yang asked, taking my hand into hers.

It was in this moment that I realized my mistake, as the grip on my hand tightened. I grit my teeth as I felt my hand slowly collapse from the outside.

"I'm just a guy who your sister saved from being mauled. Also, you have a REALLY tight grip." I said, breathing quicker and quicker with every second.

"I've been told." Said Yang, a smirk on her face. A second later she let go.

"Pffffffffffff…." I shook my hand in pain as I sucked in a breath through gritted teeth. I looked back at Yang. "...Ow."

"Oh I'm so proud of you…!" Yang said, suddenly grabbing Ruby and pulling her into a hug. Judging by the look on Ruby's face, I'd say… well, oxygen isn't THAT important, is it?

"Yang… Breathing…" Ruby tried to get out, before Yang suddenly let the girl down. "...Thanks…"

"Well, I think we've spent enough time here. Bryce, it was _Ice_ to meet you, but we need to head back home now." Said Yang, as Ruby let out an audible groan. "Oh come one sis, _Chill Out_!"

I couldn't hold back any longer. I let out a sigh, that almost immediately turned into me wheezing. "Oh my god…" I laughed, to which both sisters looked at me. "Oh that's so bad but DAMN is it good…"

"Well, good to see someone likes my puns." Said Yang, hands to her hips.

"I just wish I could actually think some up quick enough for it to be funny." I said, shrugging. "...So uh… mind getting me a trip back to… well, civilization? I uh, kinda don't know exactly where I am…"

"...You don't know where you are?" Yang asked in what I assumed was a deadpan.

"It's weird, Yang. It's like he's from another world!" Said Ruby, as I resisted the urge to facepalm. "I had to explain what the GRIMM were. He even freaked out over the moon!"

"You're exaggerating, right?" Asked Yang, as she looked over at me for clarity.

I looked to the side. "Well… She's… not wrong…" I said, a sheepish smile on my face.

"...What planet are you from?" Asked Yang.

"...Earth?" I said, as the two looked at each other, before turning their attention back to me. "What?"

"Well Ruby, you just saved an alien… If he injects me with eggs, I'm blaming you." Said Yang, as I felt my eyelid twitch.

"I'M NOT A XENOMORPH!" I exclaimed, as the two jumped back. "Jeez, as far as I can tell, I'm just as human as you two… if not a little less since Ruby can turn into a bunch of petals… is that normal? Does Yang turn into sunflower petals?"

"...Every moment I spend with him makes me start to believe it more and more…" Said Yang, as she walked over to me, hand outstretched..

"...What are you doing?" I asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Yang… please stop…" Ruby said, as Yang poked my cheek, pressing into the skin. I proceeded to open my mouth, making her finger press deeper into the skin, before closing it, biting down on both my cheek, and her finger.

"...Are you… trying to bite me?" Asked Yang, to which I stopped biting down and nursed my cheek.

"Why did I do that…?" I asked aloud, rubbing my cheek. "We literally were having a normal conversation a few seconds ago, and now you're all freaked out?"

"When you put it like that…" Said Yang.

"Look, so there's a bit of a possibility I… might be from another world." I said. "And… I also probably, definitely don't have a place to stay… anywhere."

"He _could_ stay with us." Said Ruby, looking at Yang.

"Woah woah woah. Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" Said Yang.

Ruby pointed to me in what I assumed to be excitement. "He's an alien from another world! Who knows the kind of things he knows! And besides, what else would we do? Leave him here for the Grimm?"

"...Alright fine, I'm convinced. But you know Dad will get the last say." Said Yang, before turning to me. "Alright, let's go."

"For what it's worth, thanks." I said, before I smirked. " _Snow_ place like home, right?"

"Hah!" Yang laughed, as we started walking away. "Oh I think the two of us will get along just fine…"

* * *

That… was a month ago. To give you the TL;DR, Their dad, Taiyang Xiao Long, let me stay at their place for the month. And only the month. When Yang moved out to Beacon, I would be on my own at that point. The date seemed… rather specific, but I wasn't going to turn something like this down.

In that time, I've gotten fairly familiar with the two sisters. I've spent a fair amount of time with Ruby, a fair chunk of it working on my stupid Ride Watch. The other time was mainly me and her playing twenty questions. I apparently learned that Ruby was a fan of Kamen Rider. Though the conversation was cut short there so I didn't get to ask anything else of it.

Good to at least know someone might get my Toku Memes…

And on the other hand, there's Yang. And spending time with Yang…

Well, I'm with Yang right now, so you'll have a live example.

"You… really need… to slow down…" I said, letting out long breaths. "I thought I was gonna die…"

"You're fine. Come on, we've arrived." Said Yang, as she started walking to the club.

"Are you sure I need to be here? I feel like it's gonna end up being a hazard to my health…" I said, as I ran up to her. "Like every other time you couldn't get information."

"You of so little faith. I got this!" Said Yang, a teasing grin on her face.

"Sure you do." I said, rolling my eyes as I sighed. "Just don't burn the place down this time…"

"No promises." Said Yang, as we walked into the club.

I immediately made my way to the bar, making sure to sit a bit away from Yang.

"Hey barkeep." I waved over. "Give me something to make everything numb but not enough to make me too drunk. I need something to make the incoming stupidity easier on my mind…"

He looked at me, before getting to mixing up a drink. I let out a sigh as I let my eyes wander to Yang. "This is gonna suck…"

"Aren't you a little young to be in this club, Blondie?" I heard the voice of an man over from Yang's position.

Yang giggled, which to someone who knew her, sounded… weird coming out of her mouth. It was the kind of giggle a school girl would have. "Aren't you a little old to have a name like Junior?"

"So you know who _I_ am." Said Junior. "You got a name, sweetheart?"

Yang smiled. "Yes, Junior, I've got several. But instead of sweetheart, you can just call me _sir_." She said, grabbing his groin before she began squeezing down in a way I am no doubt sure was painful. Junior seemed to agree, as he let out a cry of pain almost immediately.

"Here's your… drink sir." Said the barkeep, as he turned to look at the conversation next to me.

"Thank god…" I muttered, grabbing the drink. "This is the third time this has happened you know, always ends up the same. I honestly forget why she brings me along anyways…" I started taking big gulps of the drink in my hands, trying to ignore the incident Yang was about to start.

"People say you know everything." Said Yang, taking her scroll out and showing the man a photo. "Tell me where I can find her and I'll let you go."

"I've never seen her before, I swear!" Junior strained.

"Excuse me?" Asked Yang, squeezing a tiny bit tighter.

"I swear, sir!" Said Junior, as I watched a bunch of his men circle around Yang and him.

"Here we go…" I muttered, taking another sip.

"Hmm, looks like we have an audience. This must kind of embarrassing for you, huh? Awkward..." Yang said.

"Listen, blondie, sir. If you want to make it out of this club alive, I suggest you let me go. Now!" Junior got out.

A moment later, and Yang let go. Junior let out a sigh of relief, and I took another sip of my drink.

"You'll pay for that…!" Junior said, putting his sunglasses on as he walked away from Yang. Yang on the other hand, went in for the pursuit.

"Oh Junior, I was just playing with you!" Yang said, as I finished my drink, turning back around to watch the fireworks begin. "Don't be so sensitive! Come on, let's kiss and make up, okay?"

Junior turned around to look at Yang, who put her hand over her lips as she tried to stiffle her laughter. "Huh? Oh, okay." He said, before he began to lean in. As he closed in, Yang pulled her fist back, before launching her punch at Junior's face, sending him flying towards the other side of the bar, while also having him crash into a pillar of glass, I honestly don't know what that even is.

"...Here we go." I said, sighing as I put my hands to my face. I removed them to see all the other civilians run out of the club, while Junior's men circled Yang. "I would've stopped this, but I learned rather quickly during the first time I went with Yang to a club that things will always end in a fight…"

Yang smirked, as she activated her gauntlets on her arms. She pulled her right arm back, cocking the shotgun system imbued in her gauntlet. The guys around her charged, closing in on the blonde. Yang ran towards one of them, before jumping and kicking off his shoulder. She reared her fist back, and with a smirk on her face, slammed back down onto the floor. The floor seemed to wave from the force, knocking her opponents onto their asses.

"Alright, that's enough out of this for today." I said, walking to the side of the club, as I made my way outside. "I am not getting caught in Yang's crossfire…"

I walked outside the door to the club, to find Ruby walking down the street. "Hey, Ruby!"

"Bryce? What are you doing here?" She asked running over to me. I looked back at the club and to the sounds of gunfire and explosions, and we both at the same time responded. "Yang."

A second later, and I saw Junior fly out of one of the windows, knocked clean out. Yang soon followed, landing a few feet away from him.

"Yang?" Ruby asked, as Yang stood up, her eyes changing from a bright red back to their normal violet.

"Oh, hey sis!" Yang responded, before she looked at me. "Oh, Bryce, when'd you leave?"

"About the time you punched Junior through a pillar of glass." I said.

"What were you two even doing here?" Ruby asked.

Yang sighed. "It's a long story."

"You can tell it at home. You need to finish packing for Beacon, and I have a new issue of weapons magazine to pick up in town." Said Ruby, nodding to herself.

"And where does that leave me?" I asked the two.

"...Wanna come with?" Ruby asked.

"Anywhere is better than with Yang on another club run." I said, walking with Ruby.

"It wasn't that bad!" Yang yelled to us.

"Yes it was!" I yelled back.

* * *

So here we were, a store called 'From Dust Till Dawn'. Ruby was in the back corner of the store looking through the new magazine, while I was in the other corner fiddling with my Ride Watch.

"It's been a month already… The hell is it going to take for you to activate already?" I asked in annoyance, adjusting my headphones around my neck. "Come on…"

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop open this late?" I heard a voice ask from the front of the store.

"P-please! Just take my Lien and leave!" Said the shopkeeper.

"This isn't good…" I muttered, ducking behind one of the shelves near the back.

"Shhh, shhh, shhh, shhh, calm down, we're not here for your money." Said the voice. "Grab the Dust."

I peaked from the side, watching some of Junior's men placing canisters into the dust tubes. I looked over at Ruby, who appeared to be none the wiser to all this.

"Alright kid, put your hands where I can see 'em." I heard a voice asked, and instinctively put my hands up. "Hey, I said hands in the air! You got a death wish or something!?"

I raised an eyebrow, before a saw one of Junior's henchmen spin Ruby around, her hood dropping as she looked at him in surprise. "Shit…" I muttered, placing the Ride Watch into my pocket. The man motioned Ruby to remove her headphones, to which she complied.

"Yes?" She asked.

"I said, put you hands in the air! Now!" Said the man.

"Are you… robbing me?" She asked for clarification. I suddenly was a lot less worried for her safety.

"Yes!" The goon yelled.

"Oh…" It happened almost immediately. Ruby suddenly dashed at him, dropping the mag in the process, sending the man back into the store front. A second later, another man showed up, pointing a gun at Ruby.

"Freeze!" He shouted, to which Ruby burst into rose petals to gain speed, before reforming in front of him as she smashed into him, the both of them flying towards the store window, crashing through.

I leaned against the wall, seeing the guys responsible for this 'heist' distracted by Ruby. I started working my way towards the front, surveying the situation to see if I could get out of here without harm. "I'm stuck in a dust heist… This is crazy…" I peaked my head around the corner, my eyes locking onto a man in a white coat, a black bowler cap over his orange hair. "That's the Torchwick guy, right?"

"Okay…" Said Torchwick, as he looked at Ruby, before looking back at his goons standing around. "Get her!"

"Not much of a chance of me getting out of this with him there…" I muttered, as I saw his head tilt in my direction, his left eye locking onto me. "Shit."

"Ooh, wrong place and the wrong time, kid." Said Torchwick, pointing the end of his cane at me. The bottom of the cane flipped up, showing a targeting reticle. "Now get over here."

I slowly walked towards him, arms raised. I looked over at Ruby, seeing her take down the last henchman, sending him flying towards Torchwick. The goon landed a few feet away from Torchwick, as he sighed. "You were worth every cent. Truly, you were." He said, voice laced with sarcasm, before he grabbed my shoulder and pulled he in front of him, his cane pointed under my chin. "One wrong move, and the kid dies!"

"Bryce!" Ruby exclaimed, as she spun her scythe around, ready for another attack.

"Ah-ah-ah!" Torchwick pushed his cane into my skin. "Out of the way."

Ruby walked to the side, as Torchwick pushed me towards a nearby ladder. "Start climbing."

"How is it that RUBY got me in more trouble than YANG ever did?" I muttered, climbing up the latter, equally aware a gun was still pointed at my head. Once I reached the top, I was pushed towards the edge of a building. The sound of gunfire behind me drew my attention, as I looked around to see Ruby on the roof.

"Persistent…" Said Torchwick, the sound of roaring engines suddenly rising behind me. I looked around to see a bullhead, what replaced the helicopters in this world I guess. Torchwick shoved me aboard, before taking out a red dust crystal. "End of the line, Red!"

I watched as he tossed a red dust crystal towards Ruby, before he aimed his cane at the crystal and fired. A moment later, a huge cloud of smoke was in the air.

"Ruby!" I exclaimed.

"Whoa-ho-ho-ho!" Torchwick laughed, before he noticed something in the smoke. "Huh?"

The smoke cleared, showing a woman in a purple cape in front of Ruby, who is apparently unharmed. There was a strange rune around them, probably a protective field of some sort. Her eyes locked to mine, before she pointed what looked like a riding crop at me, and motioned towards her.

I felt something pull me, as I was suddenly flung out of the bullhead. "Oh shit!" I exclaimed, crossing my arms over my face as I approached the rooftop. A moment later, and nothing. I opened my eyes to see my floating just above the rooftop, before I was unceremoniously dropped from whatever hold I was in. "Ow."

"Bryce! You okay?" Asked Ruby, as I stood up, my Ride Watch lying on the Rooftop.

"I'm fine…" I said, picking it back up. The strange woman looked at me, before her attention refocused on the bullhead. She waved her weapon at the bullhead, summoning several streaks of purple energy at the craft, each crashing into the ship as Torchwick tumbled around inside.

"We got a huntress!" Torchwick shouted to someone else in the bullhead, as he switched places with a woman in a red dress, her face obscured by shadows. The Huntress seemed to glow purple, before she fired above the bullhead, a large storm forming above the craft.

"Holy shit…" I muttered, watching as large chunks of hail formed from the cloud, before falling down onto the bullhead below, piercing the craft in multiple locations.

The woman on the bullhead took a second to steady, herself, before her arms and legs lit up like fire. She aimed at the Huntress, before launching a burst of energy at her target. The Huntress blocked the initial attack, but some flames split off from the attack and splatter behind her. They began to glow, as I felt the heat rise around me. The Huntress suddenly back-fliped out of the way of the attack, a rather large explosion that of which destroys part of the roof.

The Huntress waves her riding crop as she begins to gather the shards of the roof to create a large makeshift arrow, which she propells at the craft. The fiery woman fires off several blasts, shattering the arrow, but the debris of each attack just reforms back into the same arrow shape. The arrowhead barely scrape the side of the bullhead, as the ship tilts to the right just in time to avoid any major damage.

The arrow separated, reshaping into more arrows that began to encircle the jet. I let out a low whistle watching the scene above. Strange glowing rings formed around the woman on the bullhead, as they suddenly expanded, destroying the shards from all directions.

"You alright if I help out?" Asked Ruby, as I nodded. She reverted her scythe to it's sniper mode, and quickly began to shoot at the woman on the bullhead, each of her shots being blocked by the woman's hand. The woman swipes her hand, as the ground below us suddenly lights up.

"Does anyone else feel warmer?" I asked, before a familiar force pushed me forwards. I rolled to a stop, as I felt an explosion go off behind me. To those who say you can't feel an explosion if it doesn't hit you, you can feel the aftershocks from it almost immediately. I looked up to see the hatch close on the bullhead as it quickly flew off into the night.

I pushed myself onto my feet, before my attention was caught to the sight of the huntress picking up my Ride Watch. I walked over to her, only for Ruby to suddenly cut in between us.

"You're a huntress!" Said Ruby, as we both looked at her. A second later, and her face had morphed to one of awe-struck, yet also pleading. "Can I have your autograph?"

I looked at the Huntress who had basically saved my life, as she looked at the two of us. "I'm going to need you to come with me." She said, before looking at me. "Both of you."

"...Yay…" I muttered.

* * *

"I hope that you realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly, young lady. You put yourself and others in great danger." Said the Huntress, as she paced around the table Ruby and I were sitting at. She stopped to look at me. "Including your friend here."

"They started it!" Ruby tried to defend herself.

"If it were up to me, you'd be sent home... With a pat on the back…" Said the Huntress, as Ruby let out a smile. The Huntress seemed to notice, as a second later she swung her riding crop on the table, electing an 'eep!' from Ruby. "And a slap on the wrist."

I jumped at the action, as I let out a breath. Damn jumpscares…

"But... there is someone here who would like to meet you." Said the Huntress, as a man in a dark green suit walked in, a plate of cookies in one hand, a full cup of what I assumed to be coffee in the other.

" Ruby Rose…" Said the man, as he leaned in to look at Ruby. "You... have silver eyes."

"Uh, um…" Ruby looked to me in confusion, as I shrugged, just as lost as she was.

"So! Where did you learn to do this?" Asked the man, motioning to the tablet the huntress was holding, a video of Ruby taking down junior's men with her scythe playing on the screen.

"S-Signal Academy." Said Ruby.

"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" Asked the man, as I let out a low whistle at that. Well, Ruby just got a little more badass in my mind.

"Well, one teacher in particular…" Said Ruby.

"I see…" Said the man, as he placed the plate of cookies down in front of us. Ruby looked to me, before she tentatively picked one up. She took a single bite, and then, not seeing any rebuttal, shovels the rest into her mouth. I managed to take a single cookie before ruby practically took over ownership of the plate.

"It's just that I've only seen one other scythe-wielder of that skill before. A dusty, old crow…" Said the man, looking to the side.

"Oh! That's my uncle!" Said Ruby, though you wouldn't understand that because her mouth was completely full. I gave her a deadpanned look, to which she blinked, and then quickly swallowed down whatever was left of those cookies. "Oh, sorry. That's my Uncle Qrow! He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing. And now, I'm all like— Hooowaaah! Witchaaaa!"

I had to duck to the side, as Ruby began swinging her arms about in some kind of makeshift karate style. Ironic considering she sucked at hand to hand combat.

"So I've noticed." Said the man, as he placed his cup on the table, sitting down opposite of Ruby. "And what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors?"

"Well... I want to be a Huntress." Said Ruby.

The man raised an eyebrow. "You want to slay monsters?"

"Yeah! I only have two more years of training left at Signal! And then I'm going to apply to Beacon!" Ruby said, her talking speed growing faster and faster, her enthusiasm growing with each sentence. "You see, my sister's starting there this year, and she's trying to become a Huntress, and I'm trying to become a Huntress 'cause I wanna help people. My parents always taught us to help others, so I thought, Hey, I might as well make a career out of it! I mean the police are alright, but Huntsmen and Huntresses are just so much more romantic and exciting and cool and really, gosh, you know!" Ruby seemed to explode at the end, as she stared at the two in front of us with wide eyes. I leaned back, suddenly very uncomfortable.

The man looked to the Huntress, before looking back at Ruby. "Do you know who I am?"

"You're Professor Ozpin. You're the headmaster at Beacon." Said Ruby.

"Hello." Said Ozpin, smiling.

"Nice to meet you." Responded Ruby.

"You want to come to my school?" Asked Ozpin.

"More than anything." Said Ruby.

Ozpin glanced at Glynda, who showed her disapproval with a "Hmmph". He turned back to Ruby, a smile on his face. "Well, okay."

Ruby smiled, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Ozpin looked over at me, before back to Ruby. "Ms. Rose, if you'd excuse us, we'd like to speak to your friend here privatly. We won't be long."

"Oh uh, okay!" Said Ruby, probably still on a high from learning she was suddenly accepted into Beacon, as she walked out of the room, her body shaking slightly from the excitement.

"Bryce Bridged…" Ozpin said, looking at me. "Aren't you the curious one?"

"Uh… I'm sorry?" I said, confused.

Ozpin reached a hand over to The Huntress, as she reached into her pocket, only to stop when she couldn't find what she was looking for.

"If you're looking for this…" I began, taking my Ride Watch out of my pocket. "It has a… tendency to reappear on my person, even if I'd rather it not."

"May I?" Asked Ozpin, as I passed the blank Ride Watch over. "Fascinating… It's been a long time since I've seen a new one."

"A… new one?" I asked.

Ozpin smiled, handing me back the Ride Watch. "Tell me, do you know of the Kamen Riders?"

I widened my eyes, as I nodded. "Yeah… their heroes who transform to protect people. They were given the title of Kamen Rider because their first appearance was almost always of them masked and on a bike of some sort."

"You certainly know a bit about them." Said Ozpin, as he looked at the Ride Watch in my hand. "As I said, it's been a while since I've seen another Rider emerge… that Ride Watch tells that you might be the next."

"I'm sorry… next?" I asked. "As in… there've been previous?"

"You seem surprised. Which is curious considering you know of them." Said Ozpin, as I swallowed down.

"...Well, I hate to break it to you… but this thing hasn't really responded to me yet. It seems to love getting me into trouble though…" I muttered, as Ozpin looked at the Huntress, before looking back at me.

"I want to offer you a proposition." Said Ozpin, as I looked up. "I see the potential for you to become the next Rider, and I want to help you become the best you can be."

"So I'll ask you, would you accept a spot at Beacon Academy?" Asked Ozpin, as I blinked in surprise.

"What? I mean… I'm not really a fighter… I don't know the first thing about combat… I mean, there was a bit of hand to hand stuff I learned from Yang, but to ask me that…?" I rambled off.

"I see potential in you. As I did with Ms. Rose. All that you have to do, is take the first step." Said Ozpin.

I looked down at the Ride Watch in my hand, before I looked at Ozpin. "...Alright, I'm in."

Ozpin smiled, before he stood up. "Tell Ms. Rose that you'll need to be at the airstrip by tomorrow at noon. I expect great things from you."

I watched Ozpin walk out the door with the Huntress close behind. I sighed, before standing up and walking out of the room.

"You all finished up here Ozpin?" Asked a man in a black suit with a red tie, a strange belt on his waist, looking like a mashup of a car's speedometer and a dashboard.

"I am. Thank you for the help today, Shinnosuke." Said Ozpin, as I felt my eyes widen as I looked at the police officer in awe.

"...Oh my god…" I muttered, as I looked at a real life version of Shunnosuke Tomari. "...it's-"

"Kamen Rider Drive!" Both my and Ruby said, me in a mutter, while Ruby yelled it out as she raced over to the police officer. I blinked as I watched Ruby start geeking out in front of him.

"Oi, Ruby!" I shouted, running up after her. "Give the officer a break, okay!"

"It's alright." Said Shinnosuke, as he looked at me. "So, you must be Bryce. It's nice to meet you."

He extended his hand, to which I shook it. I understood what this was. It was a greeting yeah, but to one Kamen Rider acknowledging the 'alleged' next Rider.

"Shinnosuke, there are reports of roidmudes!" Shinnosuke's belt suddenly lit up, as the police officer looked down.

"Got it, Belt-san." Said the officer, as he looked to the both of us. "Duty calls."

Both Ruby and I watched as the man known as Kamen Rider Drive ran off, awe on both of our faces.

"...So… guess who also got accepted into Beacon?" I said, looking over at Ruby, as she looked over at me surprise written all over my face. "Yeah… about my reaction as well."


	2. Chapter 1-5: First Night

**(Author's Note)**

 **Hey Guys! 0n3dgeGaming here. So... I will be the first to say, that I want to thank all the people who reviewed, followed, and to those who Favorited it so much that there's... actually more favorites than follows... that's new. (It's mellowed out, but there was like, 4 more favourites and I don't know how to feel about that.)**

 **With that said, I have read every review, aside from one or two reviews just kinda taking a shit in my general direction, I have read the concerns and warning of the others reviews. I understand that starting this right now, may not be the best idea and most of the time, had a mostly bad turnout. That's not always the case, there were a few that turned out rather okay, but those aren't the norm.**

 **See, I don't want to stop writing the story out, but I do want to wait a bit to get more info on the ZI-O side of things. So for the time being, I decided that to fill in time while I wait for more things to happen, I might as well cover that one month gap between the red and Yellow trailers. These will be in the form of the .5 chapters, for now at least.**

 **Chapter 2 will still happen, it will have the Henshin, but I will probably give it a bit of time for it to come out, so I have more of a base to work off of for ZI-O related material.**

 **With that said, enjoy the current chapter, it's.. rather short in comparison to the last, but it's a .5 so expect the main chapters to be longer. (Much like how ZI-O's .5 chapters are length wise)**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing, k thanks.**

* * *

"...You brought home an alien…" Said the adult man in front of us, his blue eyes looking into mine as I felt a bead of sweat roll down the back of my neck. "And you want to give him the guest room?"

"...Yeah?" Ruby said, as I sat uncomfortably in the chair I was sitting in. I wasn't looking forward to this meeting. Why? Because my livelihood would be decided by this conversation.

The two girls had brought me back to their home, and most of the snow was melted around that area it seemed. Along the way I had gotten the full name of Yang, Xiao Long. When I asked if both of their last names were 'Xiao Long', Ruby explained she had taken the last name of her late mother, Summer Rose.

By that point, we had reached their house. The outside of the house was wood, giving off a rather cozy feeling to it. As we approached the door, a small dog charged out of the door, running towards the two girls.

"Zwei!" Ruby said, kneeling over to the dog, as she started to pet him. Zwei was (as was clarified later by Ruby when I asked), a black-headed tricolor Pembroke Welsh Corgi, and was the most adorable creature I had ever seen on the face of both planets.

"Your dog?" I asked Yang, who nodded.

"This is Zwei." Said Ruby, as said dog looked to me, his eyes seemingly shined in moonlight.

I kneeled down and pet the fluffy one. The door to the house creaked open more, as I looked to the right, seeing a grown man walk out of the house. "Ruby! Thank god you're okay! I thought I told you the grimm were increasing in that area!"

"Sorry… I just, wanted to see her." Said Ruby, as the man sighed. He looked over to me with a raised eyebrow. "Oh right, Dad, this is Bryce. Bryce, this is our dad, Taiyang."

And that's how I got into this nightmare of a situation. Ruby sitting beside me, Taiyang opposite of us, Yang behind me, and Zwei asleep on his bed. I honestly don't feel very good about the situation I just found myself in.

"...Look. This is a lot to take in right now, especially at this time." Said Taiyang, gesturing towards the sleeping Zwei. "Even Zwei's asleep right now. So I'll let him use the guest room for the night. We can discuss this more in the morning."

Taiyang stood up. "I'll show you the guest room."

I stood up, following after him. As we walked, he picked up the conversation.

"So I know how Ruby found you, but how'd you end up here?" Asked Taiyang.

"Honestly? A faulty kids toy." I answered, taking the Ride Watch out of my pocket. "Find out it's not the thing I actually ordered and the next thing I know… I'm in the middle of a snowy field and there's a hoard of wolves surrounding me."

I looked up, watching Taiyang's eyes scan the Ride Watch in my hand. His eyes conveyed emotions I couldn't really read, and any further prying was cut short when he blinked, and was brought back to the topic at hand.

"Right, well, guest room's right here." Said Taiyang, opening the door to the room, a single bed sat in a corner, while a wood desk sat in the other corner, opposite to the bed. "We can talk more tomorrow."

"Thanks… for just this tonight." I said. Taiyang gave a brief nod of understanding, before he left, closing the door behind him.

I walked over to the desk, taking my phone out. I turned it on, taking a look at the time.

"...2 PM huh?" I noted, taking the charger out of my pocket. "Well, time to hope that the electricity works the same."

* * *

"You're… up early." Said Taiyang, walking downstairs. I sat in the living room, fiddling with my phone.

"Yeah. On my world it was about 2 PM when I got to the guest room, so I don't think I was going to be getting any sleep then. Lucky for me, I am great at staying up late, so I should be able to correct my sleep schedule today if all goes well." I said, turning off my phone. "I'm just glad the outlet is the same here as it is at home. Now I can actually charge things."

Taiyang nodded, walking past me. "You want something to drink?"

"If you can spare some milk, that'd be fine with me." I said, petting the napping Zwei next to me. Said dog proceeded to wake up when Taiyang's phone started to ring. Taiyang took out what I assumed was this world's version of a smartphone, and then proceeded to open it up down the middle, a screen of sorts forming between two pieces of white metal on either side.

"Hello?" Taiyang asked, placing the Phone up to his ear. "Right, thanks for getting back to me as quick as you did."

I raised an eyebrow, looking back at Zwei, who tilted his head. Probably not in a manner of confusion, but just more to look cute.

It was working very effectively.

"No… It's not like the others we've seen so far. Certainly not like the ones back from my time at Beacon." Said Taiyang, as I was left even more confused. "...He's from another world, Oz."

' _Oz?_ _Who's that?_ ' I thought to myself.

"...So you think it would be a good idea? Really? He doesn't know the first thing about anything here, why would-" Taiyang was cut off by something, as he sighed. "Alright. I understand. Don't worry about it. Take care, Oz."

Taiyang put his phone away, as he walked into the kitchen. A few seconds later, Ruby came downstairs, her hood hanging behind her head. "Morning…"

"Morning." I said, giving a two finger salute.

"Oh, right! Morning, Bryce." Said Ruby, realizing the events of last night weren't really a dream. "What are you doing up so early?"

"Couldn't sleep. It was 2 PM for me when we got here, so I couldn't have been less tired. I plan on riding the rest of this day out so I pass out at the end of the day and fix my sleep cycle." I said, as Taiyang walked out with two glasses of milk. He handed one to me before handing the other to Ruby. "Thank you…"

I took a sip of the milk, the drink a tiny more thick than it normal. "Two percent?" I asked Ruby, lightly spinning the drink in my hand.

"Yep. There a problem with that…?" Ruby asked, confused.

"Not it's fine. I'm just used to One Percent." I said, taking another sip of milk. "Still good regardless."

I finished my drink quickly after, and walked back towards the kitchen. I placed my glass in the sink, filling it with water and some soap, as I cleaned it out.

"You know we have a dishwasher, right?" Asked Taiyang, as I turned to look at him. "Or does that not exist in your world?"

"No it does, I just wasn't sure where you wanted me to leave the glass, so I decided to just clean it." I responded, rinsing the glass once more, before placing it on a drying rack near the sink.

"One month." Said Taiyang, as I turned to look at him. "Yang leaves for Beacon in that time. I'll give you a place to stay for that long, after that it's up to you to find a place."

"Thanks." I said, as Taiyang extended his hand. I took his in mine and gave it a firm shake.

"Let's start over, without the whole 'Alien' thing being thrown around." Said Taiyang, as I nodded. "Think you can help me make breakfast?"

"I think I can do that at least." I said, smiling as we got out the pots and pans.

* * *

" _Hello?" Taiyang asked, as the man on the other side smiled._

 _"Ah, Taiyang. It's Ozpin. I just got your message about the boy?" Asked Ozpin, sitting in his office, a cup of coffee next to him._

" _Right, thanks for getting back to me as quick as you did." Said Taiyang over the phone._

" _It's no problem. Let's get down to business. This… item. You think it's the start of another Rider?" Asked Ozpin. "Does it resemble any of the others?"_

" _No… It's not like the others we've seen so far. Certainly not like the ones back from my time at Beacon." Said Taiyang, as Ozpin nodded. "...He's from another world, Oz."_

" _Is he? Well, if what you're saying is true… A month. Let him stay for a month. When the first semester of Beacon starts up, I'll take it from there." Said Ozpin._

" _...So you think it would be a good idea? Really? He doesn't know the first thing about anything here, why would-" Taiyang began, only to be cut off by Ozpin._

 _"This wouldn't be the first time I've taught a student from scratch." Said Ozpin, as Taiyang sighed over the phone. "This probably won't be the last time either."_

" _Alright. I understand." Taiyang said._

" _I apologize for making up your decision like this." Said Ozpin._

" _Don't worry about it. Take care, Oz." Said Taiyang, as the call ended._

" _And you as well." Ozpin said. "A new Rider… That'll make twenty…"_


	3. Chapter 2: Initiation Day

**(Author's Note)**

 **Hey, so remember how I said I'd wait to put this one out? YEAH… I don't think my brain wants me to.**

 **I want to take this moment to actually respond to some reviews this time around, because I meant to, and subsequently forgot to in 1-5.**

 **WIth that said, Reviews!**

 **To Taiman215: I have plans for Gentaro that actually made me facepalm at how obvious the choice would be, and as for Showa Riders… I don't really have any plans for any of them to make an appearence. That MIGHT change later on, but for now I'll have to say no.**

 **To KadoyaOkami: Thanks. I knew from the start that I was probably going into this very early so the main goal wasn't to focus on the ZI-O side of things, and more on the Heisei Kamen Rider side of things. As for Spacebattles, this isn't the first suggestion of this (though the last was to just move it there outright) and while the idea does intrigue me… I haven't actually ever BEEN on Spacebattles, so there'd be a lot of learning involved. Doesn't mean I won't upload the story there as well, but for now I'm hesitent.**

 **To Banru: Who knows? \/(^w^)\/**

 **To Kyoryusaur: Thanks, I spent a good hour editing that together. There's an actual full version of it that I made, but because of how the sizing has to work… I shortened it as much as I could. Still turned out great in the end. (I won't lie, I made the cover and then the inspiration for this came flooding through).**

 **And to all the others sticking with me through this, I can't thank you all enough! With all that out of the way, let's get started!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING. NOTHING I SAY!**

 **(LINE BREAK)**

"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!" Said Yang, as she gave Ruby one of the tightest hugs I've ever seen in my life.

"Please stop…" Ruby gasped out. Yang let go, practically bouncing in place.

"But I'm so proud of you…" Said Yang, a goofy smile on her face.

"Really Sis, it was nothing." Said Ruby, as I leaned up against the window of the airship we were on.

"What do you mean? It was incredible! Everyone at Beacon is going to think you're the bee's knees." Said Yang.

"I… don't think anyone says that anymore…" I said, as the two looked over at me.

"Oh right! Congrats on making it in, Bryce!" Said Yang, to which I placed my hands against my face. "What's with him?"

"Well… he hasn't gotten nearly as much training as the two of us… and he doesn't have an aura to protect him…" Said Ruby, as Yang nodded in agreement.

"Plus the weapon, don't got one of those… honestly the only thing I DO have is the Ride Watch… and that isn't really helping me right now…" I muttered, looking at the black Ride Watch in my hand.

"I see your point." Said Yang, nodding. "But still! I'd think you'd at least be excited about this!"

"Oh trust me, I was... Then the reality set in… and the fact I'm gonna have to go through the initiation kicked in my mind… and a few other things-Look, I think I can be excused for my current level of excitement." I said, before looking at Ruby. "Well, what about you? You not excited?"

"Of course I'm excited... I just…" Ruby sighed. "I got moved ahead two years. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything."

"But you are special." Said Yang, placing an arm around Ruby's shoulder.

I looked over to my right, looking at the holographic screen displaying over the window. A mugshot of Roman Torchwick's face displayed over the screen. " _The robbery was led by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you, Lisa."_

' _Like anyone would have that kind of info to give._ ' I thought to myself, as Ruby and Yang turned and watched along with me.

" _Thank you, Cyril._ " Said Lisa, as the screen changed to photos of animal eared protestors holding up signs, each one saying the same thing, 'WE ARE NOT ANIMALS!'. The screen quickly changed to one of a growling red wolf's head with three scratch marks. " _In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has now disrupted-_ "

The screen cut off, as it was quickly replaced by a hologram of the Huntress from last night.

" _Hello, and welcome to Beacon._ " Said the Huntress.

"Who's that?" Asked Yang.

"No clue." I answered.

" _My name is Glynda Goodwitch._ "

"Oh." Me and Yang said together.

" _You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world._ " Once she had finished her speech, her holographic state faded and we were left to our own devices.

"Oh, wow! Look, you can see Signal from up here!" Ruby said, running up to the glass as she, and a few others, looked out through the glass.

"Didn't… Didn't we have this kind of view from the start?" I asked, as Yang walked up to Ruby.

"Don't dwell on it, Bryce." Said Yang, to which I shrugged, walking to the other side of Ruby.

"I guess home isn't too far after all!" Said Ruby.

"Beacon's our home, now." Said Yang.

A sudden grunt of discomfort stole my attention for a moment, as a teen with blonde hair hunched over, a hand on his mouth. He groaned, as he ran to the back of the ship.

"Well... I guess the view isn't for everyone." Said Yang, rolling her eyes.

"It was a nice moment while it lasted." Said Ruby, as I looked down at Yang's Shoe. I took about three steps back, my plan forming in my mind. "I wonder who we're gonna meet! I just hope they're better than Vomit Boy."

"Yang, there's some puke on your shoes." I said, a slight smile on my face as she started freaking out.

"Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross!" Yang repeated trying to wipe it off, before she moved closer to Ruby, probably trying to pass the puke onto her sister.

"Get-Get away! Get away from me! Get away from me! Get away from me! Get away from me!" Ruby exclaimed, hiding behind me. "Bryce help!"

"What do you want me to do!?" I exclaimed, as Yang charged at me. "Wait wait wait!"

* * *

I let out a low whistle as we looked at the sight that was the entirety of Beacon Academy. It was like a giant castle, and it also happened to look like it.

"Wow…" Yang and Ruby said.

"The view from Vale's got nothing on this!" Said Yang. I nodded, before I looked over at Ruby, who had suddenly turn into a 2-D chibi… who was also flying?

"Ohmygosh, sis! That kid's got a collapsible staff! And she's got a fire sword!" Ruby squealed out, as I rubbed my eyes, blinking as I saw Yang drag back a normal Ruby. I'll chalk it up to my nerves then… "Ow! Owww!"

"Easy there, little sister. They're just weapons!" Said Yang, as I took a quick step back.

Now, Ruby isn't as bad as some others might be when the words 'They're just-' are said. That said…

"Just weapons'? They're an extension of ourselves! They're a part of us! Oh, they're so cool!" Ruby said, getting up in her sister's face, before looking at me. "Bryce! You agree with me! Right?"

"...I uh… Guess?" I said, unsure. Yang looked at me with a deadpanned look, I responded by smiling sheepishly. "I mean… I still don't really got a weapon in the first point so…"

"Look, Rubes. Why can't you swoon over your own weapon? Aren't you happy with it?" Asked Yang.

Ruby took crescent rose out and transformed it into it's scythe form as she proceeded to hug i for a few seconds. "Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose! I just really like seeing new ones. It's like meeting new people, but better…" Said Ruby, to which I raised an eyebrow.

"Ruby, come on, why don't you go try and make some friends of your own?" Said Yang, putting an arm around Ruby, as the girl with the hood put her scythe away.

"But... why would I need friends if I have you?" Asked Ruby, before she also looked at me. "And I also have Bryce. That's enough."

"Well…" Yang said, before grabbing me by the back of my shirt as a group of random students surround us. "Actually, my friends are here. Gotta go catch up. 'Kay, see ya, bye!"

In a single moment, I felt myself get dragged off to who knows where. A moment later, Yang and I both stopped, as she dropped me on the ground. "Okay… next time, let me know first…"

"Noted." Said Yang, as I stood up. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine." I said, rolling my shoulders. "So why exactly did we leave Ruby to fend for herself?"

"Don't get me wrong. It's not like I don't want to hang out with Ruby while I'm here." Said Yang. "It's just that she needs to make friends, and she's… not too great at it."

"She made friends with me just fine." I said, crossing my arms.

"You're an alien from another planet." Said Yang. "I think Ruby's nerves lost to her curiosity there."

"Fair enough." I nodded. "So we're basically leaving her to the wolves in hopes she ends up finding a friend by accident?"

"Yep!" Said Yang, as she started walking towards what looked like a main building. "Now come on! We have the assembly to wait for!"

"Yeah yeah, I'm coming!" I said, walking after her.

If I had looked up in that moment, I would've seen a red and blue mechanical dragon flying above me.

* * *

"Hey I see Ruby!" Said Yang, as she raised her arm up, trying to get Ruby's attention. "Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!"

Ruby walked over towards us, giving a slight glare at Yang. I cleared my throat, getting their attention. "So… How's your first day been so far?"

"You mean since you two _ditched_ me and I exploded?" Asked Ruby, using some of the sarcasm I use a lot. I see she has learned from example. Don't know if that's a good thing or not.

"Yikes! Meltdown already?" Asked Yang.

"No, I _literally_ exploded a hole in front of the school! And there was some fire, and I think some ice...?" Ruby said, putting a hand to her chin.

"Are you… being sarcastic?" Asked Yang, a small smile on her face.

"So I'm not the only one who thinks that's the case…" I muttered, looking over Ruby's shoulder to see a girl with white hair, who was staring at Ruby with what I assumed was a death glare.

"I wish!" Ruby scoffed, as she started to retell the story really fast. "I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage, and then she yelled at me, and then I sneezed, and then I **exploded,** and then she yelled at me again, and I felt really, _really_ bad, and I just wanted her to stop yelling at me!"

"You!" The girl with the white hair exclaimed, as Ruby jumped into my arms, almost knocking me off balance.

"Oh god, it's happening again!" Ruby exclaimed.

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" Said the girl, as Yang look at the girl in my arms with an incredulous look.

"Oh my god, you really exploded." Said Yang in a deadpan. I placed the girl back onto the ground, as I looked at the girl in front of me.

"It was an accident." Said Ruby to Yang and I, before she turned back to Weiss. "It was an accident!"

The girl suddenly held out a pamphlet to Ruby's face. I took a moment to read the title before I felt the need to hold in my laughter. ' _DUST for dummies and other Inadequate Individuals'_.

"What's this?" Asked Ruby.

"The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company product. Although not mandatory, the Schnee Family highly encourages their customers to read and familiarize themselves with this easy to follow guide to Dust applications and practices in the field." The girl in front of started going off on a spiel, her pitch and speed increasing as she kept going.

"Uh…?" Ruby raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"You really wanna start making things up to me?" Asked the girl.

"Absolutely?" Ruby answered.

"Read this, and don't ever speak to me again." Said the girl, shoving the pamphlet into Ruby's hands.

I nodded to myself, before I took a step forward. Time for plan 'Pacifist Bryce'. "Look, I think the both of you got off on the wrong foot, so to speak. And while I'm speaking here with your attention," I pointed to the girl in front of me. "My name is Bryce Bridged, this is Ruby Rose, and Yang Xiao Long. What might your name be?"

Yang gave me a look over my shoulder, I can't see it, but I know she's giving me one. "...Weiss Schnee. Heiress to the Schnee dust company." Said Weiss, as I let out a friendly smile.

"It's nice to meet you." I said, extending my hand. Weiss looked at it before shaking my hand. I looked at Ruby. "With that said-"

The sound of someone clearing their throat echoed across the room, as the four of us looked at Ozpin, who was standing in front of said microphone. "I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people." Said Ozpin, as he looked at each and every student in the audience. "But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction." I felt his eyes land on me. "You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

Ozpin stepped down from the mic, as Glynda walked up and took over. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed." Said the huntress, as I looked down, taking my Ride Watch out of my pocket. I looked up, catching a glimpse of Weiss looking at the Ride Watch in my hand.

"He seemed kind of... off." Said Yang, as I sighed, placing my Ride Watch away.

"It's almost like he wasn't even there." Said Ruby, as I smiled.

"Well, the ballroom is where we're heading now, right?" I asked, looking at the two. "Let's get set up for now."

"Right." Said Ruby, before she stopped. "...Anyone know where that is?'

"...Yang?" I asked, looking at her.

"Follow me." She said.

* * *

I rolled out my sleeping bag, black with pink highlights. I stretched out, wearing a plain black t-shirt with a pair of sweatpants for my sleepwear. I looked over to find Ruby wearing a black tank top with a heart on the front, a pair of white and red polka dotted pajama pants, and a sleep mask that was currently sitting atop her head.

"It's like a big slumber party!" Said Yang, crashing down on her sleeping bag, next to Ruby. Yang was wearing a yellow tank top, and a pair of black short shorts.

"I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys, though." Said Ruby, not looking up.

"I know I do!" Said Yang, as she looked over at all of the guys who were currently shirtless. She then looked at the guy in a onesie and cringed. She then looked at me. "No show?"

"Don't even think about it." I said, rolling me eyes. "The hand to hand training has helped, but I do NOT have abs like those guys. Go take another look at them if your that thirsty."

"Oof. Your words cut deep." Said Yang, smirking. I laughed. Yang and I had gotten into the habit of jabbing at each other any chance we could. All in good fun, as long as one of us doesn't go too far. "What's that, Rubes?"

"A letter to the gang back at Signal. I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going." Said Ruby, to which I let out a slight smile, as I looked out at the ballroom floor.

"Aw, that's so cuuuute!" Said Yang, as a pillow suddenly slammed into her face, the blonde knocked over due to the impact.

"Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends with me to school! It's weird not knowing anyone here!" Said Ruby, pouting.

"What about Jaune? He's... nice! There you go! Plus one friend! That's a hundred percent increase!" Said Yang, pointing at the guy in the onesie, before she quickly looked back at Ruby.

"Pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend. Back to zero…" Said Ruby, looking to the side.

"Glad to know you don't count me as a friend. I am wounded by your words…" I said, a deadpan look on my face.

"You know what I mean!" Ruby said, looking at me.

"There's no such things as negative friends! You just made two friends and one enemy!" Said Yang, only to be hit by another pillow, this time dog shaped. Yang sat back up. "Look, it's only been one day. Trust me; you've got friends all around you! You just haven't met them yet!"

"That girl…" Said Ruby, as I turned my head to see a girl lighting a candle next to her.

"You know her?" Asked Yang.

"Not really. She saw what happened this morning, but left before I could say anything." Said Ruby.

"Well, now's your chance!" Said Yang, grabbing Ruby be her arm as she dragged her sister over to the girl.

"Wait, what are you doing!?" I watched as Ruby tried to get out of Yang's grip.

"Good luck!" I said, before I looked over at Jaune, sitting by his sleeping bag. "Well, might as well introduce myself…"

I walked over to the blonde, raising my hand a bit as I leaned over him. "Uh, hi? Jaune, is it?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Hi." He said, as he stood up. "Yeah, I'm Jaune… who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Bryce. Bryce Bridged. I'm a friend of Ruby." I said, as he made an O sound. "Figured might as well introduce myself while Yang puts Ruby into another situation in hopes she makes a new friend."

"Enough about that. Nice to meet you Jaune." I said. "Welcome to Beacon."

"...Yeah…" Jaune sighed.

"Something wrong?" I asked, as he looked at me. "I guess you're nervous about initiation tomorrow, huh?" I asked.

"...Yeah." He said, sitting down. I sat down next to him.

"Well… at least your not me…" I said, taking my Ride Watch out of my pocket, flipping it up into the air. "I met Ozpin literally last night, and… got accepted. I haven't even been to combat school, much less own a weapon to use."

"What? Is he allowed to even do that?" Asked Jaune.

"I think so. He certainly is expecting a lot from me… Not sure why that's the case." I said, catching my ride watch.

"What in the world is going on over here?! Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?" Jaune and I turned to see Weiss in her sleepwear yelling at the group of Ruby, Yang and the girl reading a book.

"Oh, not you again!" Both Yang and Weiss shouted when they saw each other.

"Great, they're at it again…" I muttered.

"Shh! Guys, she's right! People are trying to sleep!" Said Ruby.

"Oh, now you're on my side!" Weiss responded.

"I was always on your side!" Ruby yelled back.

"Yeah, what's your problem with my sister? She's only trying to be nice!" Asked Yang.

"She's a hazard to my health!" Shouted Weiss.

 _ **[CROSS-Z FLAME!]**_

A small blast of smoke hit the four, as a man wearing a janitor's uniform stood at the ballroom door. Over his shoulder, was a red and blue mechanical dragon, about the size of his fist.

"You four! Keep quiet! It's lights out!" He shouted, sitting down at the chair next to him. "Man, why did I get stuck with watch duty…?"

"...Oh my god…" I muttered, looking at the mechanical dragon, as it ejected a strange looking bottle which the janitor was quick to catch. "...Great Cross-Z Dragon…" I looked down at the janitor, the brown hair… that face… "...Banjou… Ryuga…?"

"Hm?" Banjou looked around, before shrugging and going back to being bored.

"You know him?" Asked Jaune.

"Not really… it's complicated…" I answered, looking back at Great Cross-z Dragon. "Great Cross-z… So that means…"

I shook my head, before turning back to Jaune. "Anyways, I'm gonna head back to my sleeping bag. Good luck out there tomorrow Jaune."

Jaune nodded. "Uh, yeah. You too."

I stood up, walking back over to Ruby and Yang. Ruby looked at the Dragon with the amount of excitement she normally gives weapons. "Ooh… It looks so cool…"

"Ruby's excited about the mechanical dragon I take it?" I asked Yang, sitting down.

"Yep." Said Yang, rolling her eyes.

"...Wake up cross-z, get great dragon… yeah." I muttered, as Ruby looked over at me. "You see that dragon? That there… is Kamen Rider Cross-Z's transformation device. Great Cross-Z Dragon…"

"Wait, really!?" Ruby said, only for me to shush her. "But doesn't that mean…?"

"That our janitor is a Kamen Rider? Yeah, it does." I said, nodding. "But let's keep that quiet for now, okay? That goes double for you Yang."

"Yeah yeah, I get it." Said Yang.

"Well, I'm gonna get some shut eye. Initiation is tomorrow after all." I said, getting into my sleeping bag. "Night guys."

"Night." The two responded.

* * *

I opened my eyes, finding the room still rather dark. I looked to the watch on my left arm. "...Great… midnight…"

I sat up, unzipping the sleeping bag as I looked over to the doors to the balcony. "...Some fresh air might do me good." I muttered, walking over to the doors.

I walked outside, taking a deep breath in, as I took out my Ride Watch.

"...What the hell am I gonna do?" I muttered, looking up at the moon. "...I should head back inside…"

I turned to my left, only to come face to face with a man in a brown coat, a grey hood over his head. In his left hand was a book, gear shaped decorations littered the cover. "Congratulations." He said, as I jumped back.

"What the-!?" I exclaimed, as he smiled.

"According to this book, today will be a very special day for you." Said the man, as I looked at my watch. _12:35 AM_. Today was technically initiation day now so… "I look forward to seeing you in action today, my liege."

"...Huh?" I said, as my phone buzzed in my pocket. I took it out, before looking ahead, finding the man was gone. "...What just happened?"

"Wait...Liege? As in… king?" I racked my brain for information, as I took the Ride Watch out of my pocket. "...You couldn't be… If you are… Oh my god…" I dropped the Ride Watch as I realized who I just talked with. "...So the mysterious Woz has showed up… Does this make me…"

I shook my head, as my mind replayed the first few minutes of Episode 1 of ZI-O.

' _You fools could never defeat me. And do you know why?_ ' The voice of Oma ZI-O Rang through my mind, as seven words dripped out of my mouth.

"...Because I was born to be king…" I muttered, the words leaving me confused. I grit my teeth, picking back up the Ride Watch as I walked back to the ballroom. "I'll just sleep this off… Initiation's tomorrow… Focus on the now."

* * *

' _I look forward to seeing you in action today, my liege._ '

"Bryce?" Asked Yang, as I snapped my head up in attention, standing outside of my locker. "You alright? You kinda… spaced out."

"...Yeah, I'm… I'm fine." I said, nodding to myself, as I looked at the locker numbers in front of me. "...I feel like Ozpin's screwing with me."

"Why's that?" Asked Ruby, as she looked at my locker number.

"Five, Five, Five." I said.

"Faiz!" Ruby responded, nodding.

"I'm still surprised you know as much about the Kamen Riders as Ruby does." Said Yang, as she looked at me. "Like, a lot more than she does at times."

"Well… Kamen Riders are a thing in my world…" I whispered. "Just… as TV shows and not… real life. And the setting was earth so some things could've changed with the new setting being… well, here."

"Huh. That's neat." Said Yang.

I opened up my locker, only to blink when I found something actually inside the locker. "...what the…"

I picked up the item, taking out something very familiar. "...It's… a Ride Watch holder…" I muttered, looking at the arm worn holder. There was a spot already occupied, a silver Ride Watch with Japanese characters on the front, the words 'Bike' if I remember correctly.

I strapped the holder on my left arm, inserting my blank Ride Watch into the empty spot. "There, now that should be all secured…"

"Where'd you get that?" Asked Yang, looking at the holder. "And is that?"

"Another Ride Watch!" Ruby squealed, pulling on my arm as she tried to take the new watch out. "Why… won't… you… come… off!?"

"Ruby, please stop pulling my arm." I said, as she let go. I twisted the Ride Watch to the left, and pulled the Ride Watch off the holder. "Here you go…"

As I handed the watch to Ruby, she started to look at every angle of it. "It's not like your other one. This actually looks like it's been activated…"

I took the watch back from her. "...What if…" I shook my head. "Questions for later."

I placed the Ride Watch back into the holder, as Yang looked over at Ruby. "Well, you seem awfully chipper this morning, Ruby!"

"Yep! No more awkward small talk or "getting-to-know-you" stuff. Today, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking." Said Ruby, stroking Crescent Rose.

"Well, remember, Ruby, you're not the only one going through initiation. If you wanna grow up, you're gonna have to meet new people and learn to work together." Said Yang.

"You sound like Dad!" Ruby complained.

"She kinda does right now." I agreed with the hooded reaper.

"Okay, first of all: What does meeting new people have to do with fighting? And secondly: I don't need people to help me grow up! I drink milk!" Said Ruby, nodding to herself.

"But what about when we form teams?" Asked Yang.

"Um, I don't know, I... I'll just be on your team or something…" Said Ruby, sounding nervous. She then turned to me. "And Bryce can be on it as well…"

Yang brought her hair around her shoulder, stroking it gently as she tried to work out how to say something. "Maybe... you should try being on someone else's team?"

"My dear sister Yang, are you implying that you do not wish to be on the same team as me?" Asked Ruby, her hands on her hips.

"What? No! Of course I do! I just thought…" Yang looked at me for help, to which I just smiled, and gave a thumbs up. A clear 'You're doing great!' that Yang was not looking for. "I don't know, maybe it would help you... break out of your shell!

"What the-?! I don't need to 'break out of my shell'! That's absolutely ridiculous!" Ruby exclaimed, as I felt the urge to back out of the current conversation. "Tell her, Bryce!"

"...I mean… Social interaction IS a problem you need work on…?" I answered, to which she pouted at me, and then kicked my shin. "Ow! Why!?"

"Because!" Ruby responded.

"Oh. And looks like Jaune's trying to be smooth." Said Yang, as I looked over her shoulder, only to see him get impaled to the wall by a spear.

"Key word being trying." I said, watching as the spear was removed. "Well, that went about as well as expected."

" _Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately._ " The voice of Glynda rang out over the school.

"Having some trouble there, lady-killer?" Asked Yang, as we walked up to Jaune.

"I don't understand. My dad said all women look for is confidence! Where did I go wrong?" Asked Jaune, as Ruby extended her hand to help him up.

"'Snow Angel' _probably_ wasn't the best start." Said Yang.

"Come on Jaune, we got an initiation to attend." I said, as Ruby helped carry Jaune and his self esteem out to the cliff side.

* * *

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Said Ozpin, as grabbed my left arm, opening and closing my left hand.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of "teams." Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today." Said Glinda.

"What? Ohhh…." Ruby sighed.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Said Ozpin, as Ruby let out a groan. He then smiled, took a sip of his coffee, and then proceeded to shatter the small child's hopes. "That said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"What!?" Ruby exclaimed, as I kept to panic laughter.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die." Said Ozpin, as I swear his eye locked onto me for a single moment during that. I let out a shaky laugh at this. "You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will reguard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

"Sir? There's an odd number of us." Said someone from the crowd. I looked down the line and realized, yeah, there was.

"There is a specific artifact somewhere in this forest. If someone without a partner retrieves it, they will be accepted, but with conditions that will be explained once the invitation has been completed." Ozpin said, looking at the rest of us. "Any other questions?"

"Yeah, um, sir?" Asked Jaune, raising his hand.

"Good! Now, take your positions." Said Ozpin. I swallowed down, as I took out the grey Ride Watch.

"Please work…" I muttered, gripping it in my right hand. I looked to my left, watching as Weiss was launched into the air. "...Oh god no…"

I grit my teeth, crouching low as the sounds of students being launched into the forest echoed in my head. I felt the board below me start to creak, as I took in a breath and tensed.

The next thing I knew I was flung from my position and was in free fall. "Oh shit!" I shouted, as I raised my Ride Watch. I pressed down on the button on the top of the Ride Watch, and threw it ahead of me.

The Ride Watch suddenly expanded, transforming into a strange bike. I grabbed onto the handles, wind blowing past me, as I braced for impact, revving the engine so the momentum moved forwards once I hit the ground.

The Ride Striker hit the ground, swerving from the impact. I quickly worked on gaining control of the bike, as I hit the brakes. The bike slowed to a stop, as I found myself in an empty field. "...Oh thank god… I survived…"

"You monster!" I heard the voice of Yang to my left, who also sounded REALLY angry. "What! You want some, too?!"

"...Honestly my best bet." I said to myself, getting off my bike, as it immediately returned to it's Ride Watch form. "...That's convenient." I picked up the Ride Watch, inserting it back into the holder, as I walked in the direction I heard Yang in.

I pushed my way through a few bushes, stepping onto a twig, and walked out of the bush, finding Yang and the girl with the book from last night aiming their weapons at me. "...Uh… Hi?" I asked, as Yang lowered her gauntlets.

"Oh, good. False alarm, it's just Bryce." Said Yang, as she walked over to me. "So, how did your landing strategy go?"

"Poorly." I said, looking over at the girl in black. "This your partner?"

"Yep. Bryce, this is Blake. Blake, Bryce." Said Yang.

"Nice to meet you, Blake." I said, extending my hand out. Blake looked at it, before shaking it. "With that out of the way… Yang, I am never riding on you bike ever again."

"Huh?" Yang let out a grunt of confusion, as I took out the Ride Striker Watch, tossing it into the air as it turned into it's bike mode. "What!?"

"Yep." I said, noticing there was a helmet there this time. "Oh, hey. That's good to see." I said, pressing my hand onto the seat before lifting it, the bike reverting into it's Watch form.

"I wish I had something like that for Bumblebee…" Yang said.

"I should probably stop wasting time now. We need to go after the relics, right?" I said. "Side note: Does anyone know where we're supposed to go."

"...We wing it?" Yang said, unsure.

"...You know what, that probably would've been my answer to." I responded.

* * *

"Think this is it?" Asked Yang, as we walked into a clearing. In the center was circular stone temple, broken and decrepit for all but the platforms that circled the edges.

"Looks like it." I said, as the three of us walked down towards the temple. Standing on top of each platform were familiar items. Blake walked up to one of them, a confused look on her face. "Chess pieces?"

"Some of them are missing. Looks like we weren't the first ones here." Said Yang.

"Well, I guess we should pick one." Said Blake.

I looked around. "The artifact isn't here. I can only assume it's elsewhere in the forest." I said, looking at Yang.

"Hmm…" Yang looked at one of the relics, before lifting up the chess piece and showing it to Blake. "How about a cute little pony?"

Blake smirked. "Sure." She said, as they walked to the center of the temple.

"That wasn't too hard." Said Yang.

"Well, it's not like this place is very difficult to find." Said Blake.

"Something tells me there's probably two other groups of students who are lost as all hell right now." I said, as they looked at me. "And yeah, this is REALLY easy right now."

"Don't you dare say ' _too easy_ ' right now! That's how everything starts going wrong!" Said Yang.

"I didn't. You just did." I said, as I looked around. "...Now all that's left to do is get back to the cliff side, right?"

"What about you? Don't you need a relic?" Asked Blake.

"I'm probably the one left out." I said, crossing my arms. "And in a forest this big? I highly doubt finding that artifact will be easy. Especially if it's the size of one of those chess pieces."

"So you're giving up?" Asked Yang.

"Yang, you know better than anyone that I can't really do the things you guys do." I said, looking at her. "You hand to hand lessons, yeah, they helped, but I can't punch a bear till it dies like you can. Which, by the way, is the most badass thing I've ever seen in my life."

"Well yeah, but-" Before Yang could finish, a high pitched scream could be head over top of us. "Some girls in trouble!"

I looked over at Blake, finding her looking up at something. I followed her gaze to see a giant bird in the sky. "...What the…"

"Blake, did you hear that?" Asked Yang, turning to us. "What should we do?"

"HEADS UP!" Shouted Ruby, as the girl jumped off the bird and started falling towards us.

"Oh god!" I shouted, taking a few steps back as the girl closed in.

Just as Ruby was about to crash into the ground, Jaune flew in through out of nowhere and crashed into Ruby, knocking the both of them off course and into a tree to the left of Yang Blake and I.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" Asked Blake, as Yang tried to work out what the hell just happened.

A second later, several crashing sounds echo from the forest ahead of us, as an Ursa runs out, claws swiping to the left and right. A second later, a pink blast of energy hits it in the back and it crashes to the ground. A girl rolls off it's back, a smile on her face. "YEEEE-HAAAAW!" She shouted, before looking at the grimm, as it slowly starts to disintegrate. "Awwww... It's broken."

Someone runs up towards the girl, clearly out of breath. "Nora! Please... Don't ever do that again." He said, before looking up to see the girl gone.

"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" I turn around to see the girl fooling around with one of the relics, balancing it on her head.

"Nora!" Shouted the guy from earlier.

Nora salutes, dropping the relic, before she grabs it and heads towards her friend. "Coming, Ren!"

"...Did… she just ride in on that thing?" I asked.

"I…" Yang tried getting out, before a screech cuts her off, as a girl in red and gold armour runs into view, dodging a gain scorpion looking creature as it uproots trees left and right trying to kill the girl.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" I exclaimed, as the girl barely dodged one of it's claws.

"Jaune!" She shouted.

"Phyrrha!" Jaune responded.

I looked over at Ruby, who had fallen onto the ground.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted, running over to her sister.

"Yang!" Ruby shouted, opening her arms for what I assumed would be a hug.

"Nora!" Said girl jumps between the two, knocking them off balance.

"Did she just run all the way here with a Death Stalker on her tail?" Blake asked, as I took a step back to process everything that was going on.

" **I can't take it anymore! Can everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!** " Yang exclaimed, her eyes flashing red as an explosion of fire erupts around her.

Everything is still for exactly two seconds, before Ruby looks up. "Um… Yang?"

I looked up, seeing Weiss hanging on tightly to one of the talons of the nevermore above us. "How could you leave me!?" I barely heard her call out.

"I said 'Jump'!" Ruby yelled back.

"She's gonna fall!" Said Blake.

"She'll be fine!" Said Ruby.

"She's falling." Said Ren, as Weiss started to drop out of the sky.

"Oh no…" I muttered, only to see Jaune jump towards Weiss and catch her. A moment later, he's acting as her landing pad. "...Well, at least Weiss is okay? Someone want to check on Jaune?"

Pyrrha lands in front of the group, as Jaune and Weiss join us. I looked at the two grimm circling us. "Yeah, I don't like our odds right now…"

"Great! The gang's all here! Now we can die together!" Said Yang.

"Not if I can help it!" Said Ruby, charging towards the Death Stalker.

"Ruby, wait!" Shouted Yang.

"Well, this could've gone better…" I said, watching as Ruby ran towards the Scorpion Grimm. "...I can't just sit by and watch this…"

"You desire the power to change things." Said a voice, as I turned around to see Woz standing behind the structure, book opened up and hood still covering his face. "Then there is only one choice. Become King."

"I'm sorry?" I asked, walking over to him. "But how the hell is that a reasonable point of connection to this moment?"

"Ruby!" Shouted Yang, as I turned around, seeing the Blonde run after her sister.

"No!" I shouted, taking a step before I felt a hand grab my shoulder. I turned around, as Woz took his hand off my shoulder.

"ZI-O's power is unrivaled throughout time." Said Woz, taking his hood off. "Use that power, and the world, including the past and future, will be yours to shape."

"...But that power… Oma ZI-O… My destiny… is to become him… isn't it?" I asked, looking at Woz. "The most evil overlord of all time?"

"You're well informed." Said Woz, smiling. "My overlord, this is your destiny."

"Ruby, get out of there!" Shouted Yang, as I looked over to see Ruby pinned down by one of the nevermore's feathers.

"I'm trying!" Shouted Ruby, tugging at her cloak.

"...My destiny… is to a king then…" I said, letting out a breath, as time seemed to slow around me. "...Fine then. My mind's made up. If that is indeed my destiny, to become this… Oma ZI-O… then so be it."

Woz smiled, before I laughed. "But just because my end point is decided, does not mean the road towards it is the same! My destiny is to be king? Fine then, I accept that. With that said, I swear, I will carve a path to my destiny, not to become that king of evil, but to become the kind hearted king, and create a world where no one has to fight. I'll be the nicest king to ever walk this world of Remnant. So then, _destiny_ , if you're calling for me right now, then I'm picking up the god damn phone!" I yelled, taking the blank Ride Watch out of the Holder, clenching it tight. I looked down, a pink holographic clock forming on the face of the Ride Watch, as two pink clock hands turned around a full 360 degrees, the Ride Watch glowing brighter in a matter of seconds.

As the light faded, the Ride Watch had finally activated. The dial like front of the Watch had changed to a pure white, with the main body keeping a blackish grey. The front of the Watch had the numbers 2018 on it and a strange symbol on it as well. This, was the ZI-O Ride Watch.

"This is for you, my overlord." Said Woz, kneeling to my left, as he held out a red pillow, a strange item sitting atop of it. "You should know how to use it."

I picked up the item, looking it over. I knew what this was. A driver. It was white and grey in colour, the front of the driver had a built in display screen, with two slots protruding on either side of the driver for inserting Ride Watches. I looked ahead, seeing the Death Stalker close in on Ruby.

I walked back towards the group, as I saw Ruby run back with Yang and Weiss. "Well that's good." I said.

"Guys? That thing's circling back! What are we gonna do?" Asked Jaune.

"Look, there's no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us." Said Weiss, pointing at the relics.

"She's right. Our mission is to grab an artifact and make it back to the Cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things." Said Ruby.

"Run and live - that's an idea I can get behind!" Said Jaune.

As Ruby and Jaune ran over to the relics, Yang walked up to me. "Hey Bryce… what's with that… thing?" She asked. I raised up the Ziku Driver, and smiled.

"You'll see." I said, as Ruby and Jaune walked back. "Ruby, don't ever do that again please."

"I got it." She said, before she noticed the driver. "...Bryce… is that what I think it is."

"Give me a moment Ruby." I said, turning to see the Death Stalker break out of the Ice. "I might need to get serious."

"No time… like the present!" I exclaimed, slapping the Driver against my waist as a belt ejected out of the driver, wrapping around my waist and tightening to a firm fit.

 _ **[ZIKU DRIVER!]**_

"Ruby… I'm going to show you my cool Henshin, so watch." I said, fully aware I just stole one of Momotaros' lines. I held out the Ride Watch to my side, as I twisted the dial so the arrow pointed to the left. I pressed down on the top button with my index finger as the Ride Watch activated.

 _ **{ZI-O!}**_

A digital hologram of a clock based helmet appeared on the front of the Ride Watch before it dissipated. I smiled, as I slotted the Ride Watch on the right side. What sounded like a clock ticking started to echo around me, as I let a breath out.

"Let's go." I said, pressing down on a button sitting on the top of the driver, as the main body of the driver turning counterclockwise by a few degrees. I raised my arms up to the left, before I moved them over my head as they eventually landed into position. My left hand held raised to my upper right side, palm outwards, while my right hand faced open palm up at my hip.

While all of this was happening, a giant holographic clock formed behind me, different gears decorated the outside, as the hands turning around as it awaited my transformation.

" _ **HENSHIN!**_ " I shouted, closing my right hand and twisting my left around as I backhanded the right slot of the driver, the whole belt turning 340 degrees until it returned to its neutral position. I quickly brought my arms in front of me in an X pattern, before bringing them down to my sides, the sound of a bell being rung echoed around me.

 _ **[RIDER TIME!]**_

 _ **{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}**_

The hands on the holographic clock slammed together at the twelfth position, before the they split to the sides, the small hand landing at 10, while the big hand settled at 2. Three pink Japanese characters formed under the hands on the clock, as it pulsed outwards, launching said characters ahead of me.

As this was happening three bands that resembled watch straps circled around, forming the ZI-O armour. They dissipated soon after, and the three characters slammed into the front of my helmet, forming the word 'Rider' in Japanese on my visor.

"WHAT!?" Ruby exclaimed, her shock overpowering the sound of the other's reacting to my Henshin.

"Rejoice!" Proclaimed Woz, as he stepped into view of the others. "He is the heir to the power of all riders! The lord of time, traveling beyond time and space to reign over past and future…"

"His name is Kamen Rider ZI-O, and you have borne witness to the dawn of his advent." Woz finished, slamming the book closed with an audible slam.

I raised my left arm, putting my left hand against the decorative watch crown on the left side of my head, as I made a motion of adjusting it. "Time…" I began, before flicking my hand out, twisting my hand so the back of my hand faced forwards, pointing my index finger up into the air with my thumb jabbed outwards. My right arm hanging to the side at the ready. "Start!"

"THAT IS SO COOL!" Shouted Ruby from behind me.

"...Heir to the power of all riders?" Blake said.

"Time Start? Really? Out of all the time or clock puns you could've made… Time Start? I'm disappointed in you." Yang said, shaking her head in what I assumed to be mock disappointment.

I relaxed my position, as I looked back at the group behind me. "...Yeah, I need to work on it." I said, as I looked ahead of me, finding the Death Stalker breaking out of it's icy prison. "Right! Grab your relics, we're booking it back to the cliff side!"

I looked back at Ruby. "...Yeah, explanation for all of you later as well… I guess." I said, stretching in the ZI-O armour. "Wow does this feel weird. Not bad, just… different."

"Wait, is anyone going to bring up that guy!" Asked Jaune, as we turned to Woz, who just smiled.

"Right. This is… one of my subjects? What are in the future anyways, my fortune teller or something?" I asked.

"Conversations like these can wait for later." Said Woz, as I raised my head a bit, before I turned around to see the Death Stalker break its tail a tad more out of the ice. When I turned back to Woz, he was gone.

"Well, shit." I said.

"Time we left!" Said Ren.

"Right." Said Ruby, as she waved to get everyone's attention. "Let's go!"

I ran up alongside Ruby. "So… I guess I found the artifact." I said, as she turned to look at me. "I assume I was always the one going to be left out, so Ozpin hoped the Ride Watch I had would activate during this."

"So you think you're good?" Asked Ruby.

"If I'm not, it doesn't mean I don't got places to go. I'm a Kamen Rider now, I might take a note out of OOO's book and become a wandering homeless dude." I said. "On second thought, that doesn't sound so good…"

"We got company!" Shouted Nora, as I looked up, seeing the Nevermore flying above us.

"Man these guys do NOT give up!" I shouted, as I slid behind a broken stone structure. I looked over to see the Nevermore perched on a pillar above us.

"Well, _that's_ great!" Said Yang, about as annoyed as the rest of us.

"Oh man, RUN!" Exclaimed Jaune, as I turned around to see the Death Stalker burst onto the scene from the trees.

"Oh, of COURSE he's here to!" I shouted, vaulting over my hiding place.

"Nora! Distract it!" Shouted Ren.

Nora smirks, running out of her hiding place. The Nevermore swings its wings in our general direction, but Nora dodges the feather projectiles with ease. As she dodged the last feather, she reaching behind her back, grabbing her weapon, a grenade launcher from the look of it, and launching several heart-topped shells at the Big Freakin' Bird. Her grenades bursted into pink electricity as they slammed into the Nevermore's side, as it let out a screech, choosing retreating to be the better option.

"Behind you!" I shouted to Nora, as she turned around just in time to see Ren and Blake slashing at the Death Stalker's outer shell in a cross pattern. Weiss jumps next to Nora, creating a glyph beneath the both of them, as they jumped off to safety.

"Go! Go!" Pyrrha shouted, as we charged over top of the stone bridge. I looked to the right just in time to see the Nevermore slam into the middle of the bridged, creating a gap in the middle. I felt the ground give way, before I felt something tug behind me, as I was pulled onto safe ground.

I looked up, nodding to Yang in thanks. "Close one, huh?" I asked, as I stood up, dusting off my armour. "Okay, what now?"

"We get to higher ground." Said Yang, pointing to the dilapidated tower. She smirked, running forwards before jumping up, using her gauntlets as a boost.

"Fair enough." I said, running ahead and jumping. The next thing I knew I had slammed into the side of the tower. "Ow."

"You alright?" Asked Yang, as I got my bearings.

"Yeah… Just don't know the kind of strength I have in this form…" I said, as I saw Ruby and Weiss join us. "I take it Birdy is ours then."

I looked at the Nevermore, watching as Blake ran along it's back, slicing at it as much as she could before she jumped off, landing next to Ruby as she walked up to Yang and I.

"It's tougher than it looks!" She said, as Yang smirked, activating her gauntlets.

"Then let's hit it with everything we got!" Yang said.

"One sec." I said, letting out a breath. I looked at the Driver. "Please work…"

" _ **EDGE OF TIME!**_ " I shouted, holding my hand out. A pink holographic clock emerged from my driver, moving outwards in front of my outstretched hand. In a flash, a strange sword materialized from the hologram, and appeared in my hand. The Sword was as basic as it could come, although with the added addition in the form of a slot for a Ride Watch above the handle, and decorative Japanese characters spelling out 'Sword'.

 _ **[ZIKAN GIRADE!]**_

 _ **[KEN!]**_

"Oh good, that works." I said, grabbing the front of the sword. "Good thing about this thing…" I flipped the blade towards me, exposing the gun form of the weapon.

 _ **[JU!]**_

"Is that it's also a gun!" I shouted, pulling the trigger. The blast slammed into the grimm, but didn't appear to do much damage. The other four joined in on our ranged fight, firing shot after shot but our attacks only seemed to be dodged our to have been taken in harmless stride.

"Look out!" I shouted, Jumping up high just as the Nevermore slammed into the tower. I looked down to see Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang all jumping from block to block, a feat I wouldn't be able to accomplish as I am now. "Never thought about using it like this…"

I tossed the Zikan Girade to the side, the gun dispersing into particles for me to recall later, as I pressed down on the button on my ZI-O Ride Watch.

 _ **{FINISH TIME!}**_

I pressed down on the top button of the driver, before I pressed my thumb on the right slot, and pushed, spinning the driver around. The bell sounded again, as I kicked my foot out.

 _ **{TIME BREAK!}**_

I flew forwards, sliding onto the stone next to Ruby. She grabbed my hand to help me up. I smiled. "Yeah… using a Rider Kick to get out of harm's way… who'd of thought?" I said, smirking under my helmet.

"None of this is working!" Shouted Weiss, as she landed next to us.

Ruby seemed to survey the area, before she looked back at us. "I have a plan. Cover me!"

"You heard her." I said, holding my hand out. " _ **Edge Of Time!**_ "

 _ **[ZIKAN GIRADE!]**_

 _ **[JU!]**_

"Open fire!" I shouted, pulling the trigger on my gun. "Let's try some of this!"

I pressed down on the green button above the Ride Watch Slot, before gripping the gun with both hands, energy forming at the barrel.

 _ **[Time Charge! 5...4...3...2...1...ZERO TIME!]**_

I pulled down on the trigger, as the energy that formed finally reached it's peak.

 _ **[ZURE ZURE UCHI!]**_

The energy shot forwards, slamming into the bird as it screeched. While it's mouth was open, Yang jumped towards the bird, grabbing the top of it's beak with her left hand, she held its mouth open as she repeatedly punched round after round of ammunition into the grimm.

"Ruby! What's the plan?" I asked, running over to her.

"That kick you just did… can you do it again?" She asked me.

"Yeah, why?" I said, looking over to see Yang steer the bird into the cliff side. "Oh…"

Despite the fact Yang just punched a bird into the cliff, said bird wasn't exactly harmed by it, as it started to flap it's wings and get back into the air. Weiss quickly ran forwards, passing Yang as she she stabs her sword into the ground, as Ice travels from her position up to the bird's tail, freezing it in place, no matter how much it flapped.

I watched as Blake gripped the ribbon on her weapon, before she threw her pistol over to Yang, who caught it as they got onto either side of two pillars and pulling, the ribbon tense. Ruby jumped towards the ribbon, landing at the center with Crescent Rose as it bent down the middle towards a black glyph from Weiss.

I ran over to Weiss and Ruby. "Of course you would come up with this idea." Said Weiss.

"Think you can make the shot?" Asked Ruby.

"Hmm. Can I?" Weiss asked rhetorically.

"Can you?" Ruby asked, clearly not getting sarcasm.

"Of course I can!" Weiss snapped.

"Weiss, when you send Ruby flying, I need you to launch me into the air for my bit." I said, pressing down on the button on my Ride Watch.

 _ **{FINISH TIME!}**_

"Got it!" She said.

Ruby cocked her weapon, as Weiss turned the circle from it's black colour to a red, releasing Ruby as the tension from the ribbon and Weiss' glyph send the girl flying. The ground beneath me cracks slightly, but I don't have enough time to focus on that, as a glyph forms below me, sending me into the air.

Ruby catches the neck of the Nevermore with her Scythe, as light blue glyphs form under her feet, all leading up the side of the cliff. Ruby fired her weapon, running all the way up the cliff with each new shot fired.

A moment later, I had reached the apex of the launch, as I pressed down on the top of my driver, and quickly spun it around. The bell rang out, as I got into position.

 _ **{TIME BREAK!}**_

Ruby reached the top, launching herself into the air, holding the Grimm's head right over the top of the cliff. Pink Japanese characters for 'Kick' formed around the head of the grimm, as they slowly combined together, before they flew over to my foot. My text on my visor lit up along with the text my foot, as I flew towards the Grimm's head.

" _ **Rider Kick!**_ " I shouted, my foot impacting the Grimm's head, before I blew through it, sliding past as Ruby landed behind me. "Times up…" I said, flicking my wrist. I turned around, walking to the edge of the cliff as the Nevermore's body fell into the abyss below, disintegrating all the while. "...No Yang's right I need to work on my catchphrases."

"They're not THAT bad." Said Ruby.

"They need MORE character to them though." I said, shaking my head. "Let's just help the others up. I think we finished the initiation finally."

I removed the ZI-O Ride Watch from the driver, as I twisted the Dial back to its neutral position, the armour fading around me.

"That was a rush." I said, smiling.

* * *

"Russel Thrush. Cardin Winchester. Dove Bronzewing. Sky Lark." The screen of the auditorium projected each of their profiles as the boys lined up for the applauding audience. "The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL, led by... Cardin Winchester!" Ozpin Announced, as I stood near the wall, flicking the dial of my Ride Watch.

This thing is way too fidgety for me to deal with…

I looked back up to the stage as the audience gives one more wave of ovation to the new team. I watched as four familiar faces walked up to the stage to take their places in front of the headmaster, their faces filling the screen.

"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR." Said Ozpin. I put my Ride Watch back onto the holder, as I started clapping loudly for them, cheering all the same.

"Led by... Jaune Arc!" Said Ozpin, as the smile on my face grew a bit.

"Huh? L-Led by...?" Jaune said, shocked.

"Congratulations, young man." Said Ozpin.

Jaune looked out into crowd, catching my gaze. I gave him a thumbs up, which then turned into a two finger salute. Pyrrha grinned, looking to her teams new leader, giving a friendly shoulder bump to Jaune, but the poor guy is knocked over and falls to his butt in front of the laughing audience.

The four walked off stage, as Ozpin motioned Ruby, Yang, Blake and Weiss onstage. "Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long." Ozpin said, looking at the four. "The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY. Led by... Ruby Rose!"

I let out a loud chear, clapping just the same as I had for team JNPR, as Yang tackles her sister into one of her infamous bone crushing hugs. My eyes wavered to the other two members of Team RWBY, Blake was giving a slight smile to the two sisters, while Weiss had a look of shock on her face, that quickly faded to a blank stare.

"And finally." Said Ozpin, as the four walked offstage. "Would Bryce Bridged come onstage."

I swallowed, kicking off the wall as I walked up to Ozpin. "Bryce Bridged. You are the only initiate who did not find themselves a partner. Under normal circumstances, this would mean you would have failed the initiation, but to fail one person because of an odd number wouldn't be fair if it was left up to luck."

Ozpin smiled. "With that said, you did as asked and brought the 'special artifact' to the cliff side." He said, as I blinked. "Bryce Bridged, you retrieving the ZI-O Ride Watch and the Ziku Driver. Because of the odd number of students, for the time being you will be an unofficial member of the team you worked best with during the Initiation, while at the same time looking for possible teammates to join you."

"With that said, would Team RWBY please come up to the stage." Said Ozpin, as the team came back up to the stage. "During the initiation, you five worked together to take down the common threat. Ruby Rose, will you accept Bryce Bridged to your team?"

Ruby looked at me, before looking back at Ozpin. "Absolutely."

"Bryce Bridged, welcome to Team RWBY." Said Ozpin, as the crowd cheered around us. "It looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year. Don't you agree, Kamen Rider ZI-O."

I looked over at Ozpin, as he smiled at me, before walking away. I looked back just in time to see Ruby slam into my side. "Congratulations Bryce!"

"Thanks… Can you get off me now? You're digging into my solar plexus…" I said, grimacing. Ruby got off almost instantly. "Thank you…"

"Well, how's that for Mr. No Training?" Asked Yang.

"Terrifying." I answered, before looking over at the other two members of Team RWBY. "I look forward to working with the both of you."

"Likewise. It'll be interesting to see a Kamen Rider in action." Said Weiss, extending her hand. I took it in mine and shook. I turned to Blake, who smiled.

"Same for me." She said, as I smiled.

I stretched. "Well, might as well get myself situated. Do we know where our dorms are?"

"All teams will be given dorm numbers on your way out of the auditorium. Enjoy the night." Said Ozpin to the crowd.

"Well, that's convenient." I said.

"I'll say." Said Jaune, as Team JNPR walked over to us. "Congratulations guys."

"Could say the same to you, Vomit Boy." Said Ruby, as Jaune let out a chuckle.

I smiled. "So, shall we see where our rooms are?" I asked, as the others nodded.

"Bryce, if I could speak with you for a moment." Said Ozpin, walking up to me.

"Huh? Oh, sure. I'll catch up, you guys head on ahead." I said, turning around to look at Ozpin. "Something you need from me, Professor Ozpin?"

Ozpin handed me a slip of paper. "That there is you room number. While you may be apart of Team RWBY, the dorms are not designed with five in mind, so you'll be taking residence in a separate dorm for now. Inside will be a school provided scroll." He said, holding his hand out. "Welcome to Beacon young man."

I extended my hand as we shook. He reached into his coat pocket as he pulled out a card, turning around. He tilted his head to look at me, a smile on his face."And welcome to the world of Kamen Riders." He finished, his left hand resting to the side, flipping the card over, the face of a pink Kamen Rider labeled on it.

"...Decade…" I muttered in realization, as Ozpin walked away. I looked down at the sheet of paper in my hand. "...I'll think more on it later, I should get settled."

* * *

"Wait, so your room is next to ours?" Asked Ruby, as we walked down the hallway, looking through the different room numbers.

"Looks like it. See, you got 553…" I began.

"We have 554…" Said Jaune, chiming in.

"And I have… Faiz…" I said, sighing. "Onore Decado…" I muttered, shaking my fist, knowing for a fact Ozpin was trolling me at this point, while also a bit ecstatic I could both use that line, and that it was actually applicable.

"Here they are!" Ruby said, pointing at the doors. I walked up to mine, grasping the door handle as I opened the door, finding it was unlocked.

"They're unlocked. Probably only for the time being though." I said, turning the lights on. The dorm was plain, four desks, four beds, a bathroom, and a small section for a rather tiny kitchen. In the middle of one of the beds was a package. "I got a package I guess. You guys go check out your dorms, I'm gonna drop my stuff off for now."

I closed the door behind me, as I walked over to the bed, picking up the package. "What might you be?" I asked, opening the box, inside was what looked like a box for a new Smartphone, and a few other school supplies, along with 3 custom tailored uniforms, most likely for classes. "Great, a dress code…"

I took the phone box out, opening it to see what I had learned to be a scroll. "Right, Ozpin said the school supplied these. Probably good for huntsmen and huntresses to have in the field."

I placed it aside, deciding to get it set up later. "...I became a Kamen Rider…" I muttered, crashing onto one of the empty beds. "...holy crap."

* * *

 **(Author's Note)**

 **And that's it for this chapter. Wow that was long. This thing was the combined length of both Chapters 1 & 1-5...**

 **Only wish my wifi didn't crash and I had to go through the entire chapter and re-edit it... (I REALLY liked the first edited version too...)**

 **Okay so I want to ask you guys something. Catchphrases. An opening and closing one. I swear I had a few ideas, but I honestly can't remember them. If any of you think of any good ones, if you could leave them via review, I'd appreciate it. (Plan on doing 2-5 as a bit of a homage to Kouta's 'How to do the henshin pose' scene from episode 2 of Gaim, if you understand what I'm talking about)**

 **With that said, have a good day everyone!**


	4. Chapter 2-5: Time for Catchphrases

**(Author's Note)**

 **Hey guys, 0n3dgeGaming here.**

 **I don't really have a lot to say on this one other than a quick little thing that probably didn't even needed to be written, but I felt like this would be fun to read.**

 **With that said, onto reviews!**

 **To LegionnaireBlaze: Maybe I will. Maybe I won't. You certainly got me thinking about more in depth Geiz ideas though.**

 **To Emperor Potato: As far as Pairings go? I'm not 100% sure on it, but I do have some vague ideas I might go through as time goes on.**

 **To KadoyaOkami: If you'd be fine proofreading this, I'd be all for it. I'd… just need to figure out how actually goes about that, since there IS an actual thing for it on the site. (Side note: Most of the driver sounds have been 1-1 so far. I might change some things later though I'm not sure yet.)**

 **To KRKing: Unfortunately, I'll have to politely decline. I've tried writing someone else's OC once before in another story I did… and it didn't turn out very well… So again, sorry, but I'll have to decline.**

 **To Gaogod: Fair enough, that's your opinion, and I won't judge you on it.**

 **To NewbieRead13: THE KING OF TIME IS BORN! REJO-Yeah let's just leave it at that. And Build will be making an appearance in chapter 3, along with Cross-z.**

 **To Tony Trill: Yeah, saw the look for the driver. Weird looking devices on either side, but hey, who am I to judge a king of time. And hey, what if it turns out Sougo is the Another Rider of Oma ZI-O? Eh? Never know…**

 **To Elemental Dragon Swordman: I do have** _ **some**_ **plans for some of the adult RWBY characters to become past riders, though I can't spoil those just yet.**

 **With that all said, let's get on to the story!**

 **Disclaimer: You should know this by now!**

* * *

"...Nope, still too high on the excitement." I said, standing up from the bed i crashed on. "Need to work on the important things…"

I slapped the Ziku Driver against my waist, the belt forming around me. I pulled the ZI-O Ride Watch off of the holder, as I twisted the dial, pressing the activation button.

 _ **{ZI-O!}**_

I gave a wide smile, as I slotted the Ride Watch into the right side of the driver. I raised my hand and pushed down on the release button on the top of the Driver, pushing my hand down to my left side, pointing downwards. I moved my arms up and to the right, resting my right hand at my waist with my left hand palm outwards to the top right.

" _ **Henshin!**_ " I exclaimed, a goofy smile on my face, as I backhanded the driver, rotating it back into its neutral position. I quickly brought my arms up into an 'X' pattern, before swinging them to my sides, a loud bang of a clock bell ringing out through my room.

 _ **[RIDER TIME!]**_

 _ **{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}**_

I stretched my arms, the ZI-O armour forming around me. I flicked my right hand up, turning to the right as I extended my left hand towards my dorm room door. "Now, count up your sins!" I said, flicking my left hand into a point, as I turned my head towards the door, finding it both open and the entirety of Team RWBY standing in the doorway. "...I mean… um…"

"...Were you… practicing catchphrases?" Asked Yang, a sly smirk on her face. I suddenly found myself very happy that I had a helmet on. "I don't know whether to find that hilarious or adorable."

"S-shut up!" I shouted, crossing my arms as I looked to the side. "I… I'm… Oh yeah, catchphrases! I need some."

"Catchphrases?" Blake asked, as I the four walked into the dorm room. "Why exactly?"

"Every great Kamen Rider has one or two!" I said.

"Yeah!" Ruby said, sliding up next to me, as we high five-d like Emu and Paradox did when they transformed against Cronus.

"Wizard has 'Saa, showtime-da!', Den-O's got one for almost every single one of his forms, Double's… is the one I just did." I said, looking to the side. "Almost every single rider has one!"

"Eh… OOO doesn't really have one…" Ruby said to the side.

" _Almost_ every single rider has one." I said.

"Still doesn't explain why you were doing another Rider's catchphrase." Said Weiss.

"Well, if you must know, I was getting into the feel of things. That, and I can't seem to figure out clock themed catchphrases…" I said.

Yang chuckled, before she stood up. "Then we'll just have to help you with that!"

"...What?" I asked, looking at her.

Yang motioned to the rest of the team. "We're going to help you think up some catchphrases!"

"Ooh. I like this idea!" Said Ruby, nodding.

"I don't know…" Weiss said, looking to the side.

"Consider it our first team exercise then!" Said Ruby, pulling the leader card earlier than I expected.

"Mind if we join you then?" Asked Jaune, as I turned around to see Team JNPR standing outside my door. "Your transformation was… kind of loud."

"...Close the door once your inside." I said, waving them in. "Okay fine, since this is pretty much bound to happen, let's start off with the intro. We want to do before, or after henshin?"

"Before or after?" Asked Blake.

"A catchphrase to be said before the henshin as a prelude, and a catchphrase once it's done." Said Ruby.

"An example for pre-henshin: 'I'm just a passing-through Kamen Rider. Remember that!'." I said. "You four already saw one for post henshin."

"What'd you guys see?" Asked Nora, leaning into Yang.

"Bryce reenacting Double's catchphrase." Said Yang, snickering.

"I hear that blonde!" I shouted, not looking at her. "So the rules to go along with this. ZI-O is time themed, primarily, a clock, so puns are… unfortunately welcomed here."

"Yes!" Yang said.

"Any ideas?" I asked, looking around.

"Oh! What about, 'Get ready because it's Rider Time!'" Said Jaune, as I tilted my head. "Well, isn't that what your driver says when you transform?"

"That's true…" I said, crossing my arms. "...maybe some others?"

"I think sticking to the after henshin catchphrases might suit this better." Said Ruby. "Unlike a select few riders, pre-henshin catchphrases aren't the norm."

"That might work better. Thanks for the idea Jaune, but I don't think I'll be using Pre-Henshin catchphrases." I said.

"Oh, it's no problem." Said Jaune, as I nodded, looking at the others.

"Alright so after henshin then. Anyone have any ideas there?" I asked.

"How about 'The power of Time is at my command!'?" Asked Nora. "Or what about 'Let's Begin your Countdown!'?"

"Let's put the second one to the side for now." I said.

"Ooh, maybe something like Zeronos' catchphrase." Said Ruby. "Like… 'At this moment in time…' and add something at the end."

"We could also change it depending on the scene…" I nodded. "...'At this moment in time… Your destiny is mine to decide!' Any thoughts?"

"Sounds good to me." Said Ren, as the rest of the room gave nods.

"And again, I can change it depending on the situation." I said, nodding to myself. "Alright, now onto the finisher lines."

"...'Your Time is Up'?" Weiss suggested, as we all looked to her. "What?"

"Of course you say the most obvious…" Yang said.

"Hey!"

"Alright, enough of that." I said. "Just because it's obvious doesn't mean it's bad… We'll put it aside for now."

"Maybe 'Time is not in your favor' ?" Suggested Blake.

"...That one's alright too…" I said, crossing my arms.

"What about 'Bring on the finish time'?" Asked Ruby. "That… was the finisher, right?"

"Yeah it was…" I said. "I dunno… I'm not feeling many of these."

I sighed, walking over to my desk as I picked up my phone, as I started to scroll through photos. "There's gotta be something… I swear it's right on the tip of my-"

I dropped my phone, before I placed my hands against the front of my helmet.

"Uh… Bryce?" Asked Yang. "You alright there?"

I just laughed, as I let my hands fall to my sides. "OF COURSE! Why didn't I see it earlier!?"

"I think he's got a winner." Said Nora.

I turned around to the eight occupying my room, flicking my right hand into the air. "Good heavens, would you look at the time!" I said, pressing down on the ZI-O Ride Watch.

 _ **{FINISH TIME!}**_

I quickly took the Ride Watch out of the Driver and gave the belt another rotation, the Armour dissipating around me. "And we have a winner."

"Good heavens, would you look at the time?" Asked Weiss.

"...That… actually works." Said Blake.

A knock on the door got my attention, as I walked over, seeing Glynda standing outside.

"...Let me guess… Noise complaint?" I asked, to which Glynda sighed.

"I would recommend you all head back to your specific dorms for the night." Said Glynda, as I stepped back to let the others leave.

I closed the door once they all left, setting the door to 'auto lock' now that I had my scroll. I sighed. "Well, at least I don't need to worry about Catchphrases for now."

* * *

 **(Author's Note)**

 **I'd like to give a huge thanks to DragonKnight SR, NewbieRead13, Cross-Z Magma, Elemental Dragon Swordman, and Guest (You know who you are, I hope). They were responsible for all of the catchphrases except for the last, which came to me the moment I posted the last chapter.**

 **With that said, I hope you guys enjoyed this little thing, it was REALLY fun to write out, and I hope you guys have a good day.**


	5. Chapter 3: First Day

**(Author's Note)**

 **Hey guys! 0n3dgeGaming here! Welcome back to another chapter.**

 **I would say sorry about the wait, but honestly the more I hold off on these chapters the more info I have to work with from ZI-O.**

 **With that said, let's move onto Reviews!**

 **To KRKing: I've said my stance on including other OC's and I won't be changing it. Thanks for asking, but I'll have to decline again.**

 **To Tony Trill: More of a crackpot theory than anything else. I highly doubt Sougo's Another ZI-O, but it'd be funny in hindsight. And OOO's Heisei Generations Final Catchphrase doesn't really count.**

 **To Kamen Rider Chrome: I might try that one actually. More for the intro catchphrase, but we'll see if it really goes anywhere.**

 **To Shogun lord poke burst: Yes. Yes he is.**

 **With all that out of the way, ONTO THE STORY!**

* * *

 _The ground crumbled beneath the gold plated foot, as a man in regal inspired gold armour stopped in front of a stone statue. He turned to look at it, staring into the eyes of the boy who was once him, as he looked down to the plaque on the base of the statue._

' _Commemorating the first transformation of Bryce Bridged'._

 _The man looked up, the statues of past riders standing next to the commemoratory statue, circling around to form a circle. The man looked back, his red visor lighting up as he faced the oncoming hoard of soldiers. He stood firm, as the army drew closer and closer with each passing moment._

" _Charge!" Exclaimed one of the Soldiers, as a torrent of ammunition ripped through the air, slamming into an invisible shield a few feet away from the man in gold._

 _The man raised his hand up, before flicking it open, a large shockwave knocking back the soldiers as the air around them combusted, exploding outwards, decimating the army's forces._

 _The man looked up, watching as countless missiles closed in on him, before raising his hand once more, stopping them in their tracks. He gave a passive look to the right, watching as a giant robot lifted it's foot, bringing it down to stomp on the man._

 _He paid it no mind, moving his hand to catch the metal foot in some kind of energy field, as he sent it flying back, before quickly moving onto the next robot that had advanced. He waved his arm, the missiles hanging in the air flew outwards, exploding on contact with the armada of robots,_ knocking them down.

 _The man snapped his right hand to the side, as time around his froze. He looked out at the soldiers he chose to leave movable in the frozen time, his voice sending chills down each of their spines._

" _You fools could never defeat me." He said, tilting his head a bit. "Do you know why?"_

 _The man brought his right hand to his chest, a pulse of energy ripped through the air, disintegrating everything in its path, the soldiers unable to even scream before they were dust in the wind._

" _ **Because I was destined to be king.**_ _"_

* * *

I shot up from my bed in a cold sweat, gripping a round object in my hand. I looked down, seeing the ZI-O Ride Watch staring back at me, the dial turned to the right so the face was shown in full.

"Shut up!" I yelled, throwing the Ride Watch at the door as I placed my hands behind my head. "...I won't… I won't become that man…"

"Well, this is certainly new in the morning." Said a voice, as I snapped my head to the left, finding Woz standing next to the wall of my dorm room. "I've arranged your uniform for today. According to this book, it's quite an eventful day."

"...Thanks." I said, grabbing the clothes from a nearby chair as I walked to the bathroom. I closed the door behind me as I stripped off the sweatpants drenched in… well, sweat, as I walked into the shower, turning it on as I let the hot water roll down my back. "...It was just a dream… just a dream."

I told myself those words as I calmed down, before a more important thought came to mind. "...Why the hell is Woz in my dorm room?" I asked, quickly turning the shower faucet off now that I had finished. I stepped out of the shower, drying off with a nearby towel before picking up the uniform. "Well, might as well get ready for the day…"

I quickly got dressed for the day, getting most of the uniform on, before being stuck at the tie, as I sighed. "Yeah, not going to bother. Maybe I'll ask Jaune or Ren for help later…"

I resisted the urge to laugh, realizing once again, that I had became a Kamen Rider last night. I let out a sigh, as my excitement returned to safe levels, as I looked in the mirror. I hadn't changed too drastically when I arrived on Remnant, aside from losing a surprising amount weight, I didn't really change looks wise. I didn't even get a lot of muscle, being left average.

I looked into my green eyes, smiling as I swept my brown hair to the side. I put a hand to my chin, feeling the scruff growing around there. I took out my razor and got to work shaving off my facial hair, exposing my rather pale skin into the open. I rubbed my chin down with a towel, as I ran a hand across my smooth chin, making sure the surface was dry.

I hung the towel on the rack, as I walked out of the bathroom, ready for the day. I looked to the left, finding Woz kneeling in front of me, the Ziku Driver and Ride Watch Holder, now holding the ZI-O Ride Watch after I threw it, on a red pillow. "For you, my liege."

"...Thanks." I said, picking up the Ride Watch holder, strapping it to my left arm, before I picked up the Ziku Driver, placing it against my waist. "…You're giving off more of a 'personal attendant' vibe rather than your normal 'Fortune Teller' one…"

"I am in service of my overlord, and as such I am to be here to give explanations whenever necessary." Said Woz.

"That, and you probably need a place to stay at Beacon to keep an eye on me." I said, to which Woz turned around.

"I would suggest you head on to class, you do only have 15 minutes before it starts." Said Woz, avoiding the question as I sighed. I turned around, walking over to the door as I took my scroll out, opening the door and closing it behind me.

"Need to personalize this later…" I muttered, flipping the scroll in the air before I caught it, putting it away in my back pocket. I walked up to the dorm room next to mine, room 553, as I knocked on the door.

After a few moments, the door opened to Ruby, who as soon as she saw me dragged me inside. "Ah Bryce! Great timing, we need an outside opinion, should we do bunkbeds?" Asked Ruby, as I looked at the stack of four beds in front of me.

"...What's going on exactly?" I asked, looking at the other members of Team RWBY.

"We're trying to figure out how to maximise our space in the dorm." Said Blake.

"Oh." I said. "Well, bunk beds would probably help, and I think if you asked the staff they would be fine with supplying them… Though this really should wait till later." I said, as they looked at me.

"Why's that?" Asked Yang.

"Anyone have a watch?" I asked, as Yang gave me a pointed look. "Okay yeah, bad joke. But seriously you guys have 10 minutes to get to class before it starts."

"What!?" Weiss exclaimed.

"To class!" Ruby shouted, as the four of them booked it out of the room, leaving me alone in their dorm.

"...Your welcome." I muttered, walking out of the room and closing it behind me, watching as Team JNPR ran after Team RWBY. "I wonder how much trouble I'd get in if I used my bike inside the halls…?"

"A lot of it." I turned around to see Ozpin taking a sip from his coffee. "On an unrelated note, when you're finished with classes for the day, meet me in the combat arena."

"Uh… sure?" I said, before Ozpin walked past me. "Oh crap, class!" I pressed my foot into the floor as I sprinted ahead, passing by a Janitor's cart, the Janitor's eyes widening as I passed.

"Was that a driver?" Bajou asked himself, as his scroll started to ring. "Huh? Hello, Hello? Oh, Sento! You won't believe what I just saw! Huh? Oh… I'll tell you later then… Wait, what do you mean your busy?"

* * *

"Monsters! Deeeemons... Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-ha!" This was the first major sight I had received when I sat down for the first class I had at Beacon, as I forced myself pay attention to the opening of the class.

This was Professor Port, our teacher for Grimm Studies. Apparently, he thought starting things off with a joke as bad as that one was a good idea. The man was portly, looking a bit overweight. His hair had greyed, and he wore one of the most magnificent moustaches I've ever seen, then again, I haven't really seen any good ones back home to compare this too so…

"Uhhhh... And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses…" Port gave Yang a wink, to which she promptly groaned at how uncomfortable thing had gotten. "Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world!"

"Ayyyy-yep!" I turned to my left, seeing a student with fist in the air. He looked around, probably realizing everyone was looking at him weirdly, as he quickly sat down, looking embarrassed.

"That is what you are training to become." Said Port, as I picked up the pencil in front of me. "But first: A story. A tale of a young, handsome man... Me! When I was a boy…"

I sighed, taking out my scroll. If our professor was going to go off on a tangent like this, might as well make the time I have useful right? I won't lie, the scroll was a complete mystery to me. I didn't really have too much of a clue as to how it worked, my only saving grace was the 'helpful' instruction manual I was provided. I now knew how to turn it on. And that was about it.

I decided saving the scroll for later might be a better idea, so I placed it away and pulled out my phone, pressing the button on the side as the screen came to life.

If there was one thing I was happy about, is that I was wearing the jeans I always have a charging cable and brick in for my phone in case of emergencies. I don't know how long I was lost scrolling through my phone, but I was brought to attention when Port cleared his throat. "In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero!"

"The moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honorable!" Said Port. A true Huntsman must be dependable! A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise! So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

"I do, sir!" Shouted Weiss, as I looked over at the heiress. She looked… rather angry, for some reason.

"Well, then, let's find out!" Said Port, as he gestured to the glowing red eyes that pierced the shadows of the cage holding back what I could only assume was a Grimm. "Step forwards, and face your opponent!"

"...After you get your combat gear together." Said Port, as Weiss left the classroom. "The rest of you, take a break until she returns."

I turned to Blake. "What's with Weiss? She seems… I want to say frustrated?"

"I have no idea." Said Blake, as I turned back to see the Heiress return.

"Well that was fast." I said, as Weiss gripped her Rapier.

"Goooo, Weiss!" Yang cheered, raising her fist.

"Fight well!" Blake said, waving a small flag with Team RWBY's logo on it.

"Yeah, represent Team RWBY!" Ruby shouted.

"Ruby! I'm trying to focus!" Snapped Weiss, as she lowered her sword and looked at her team leader.

"Oh, um… sorry." Ruby responded.

"Okay… I see how THIS is…" I said, as I looked over at Blake. "...Where the hell did you get that flag?"

"It was in the general team package." Said Blake, as I looked back to the fight.

"Ah." I responded, as Port pulled out his weapon. It looked to be a blunderbuss, but the stock of the weapon had the blades of a battle axe on either side of it. Our Professor held his weapon by the barrel, as he raised the weapon.

"Alright!" He exclaimed. "Let the match... begin!"

The professor swung his weapon down, breaking the lock to the cage. The cage door dropped open, as the Boarbatusk inside immediately charged at Weiss. She quickly raised Myrtenaster to deflect its attack, forcing her to roll to the side. She gripped her rapier, readying herself for its next move. The Grimm stood a distance away, studying her.

"Ha-ha! Wasn't expecting that, were you?" Said Port.

"Hang in there, Weiss!" Ruby shouted.

Weiss charged towards the oncoming Boarbatusk, thrusting her blade straight at its skull until the two forces collide. In a single moment, Myrtenaster is trapped in the beast's tusks, Weiss still hanged on to the hilt as tossed around as she struggled to get the rapier back.

"Bold, new approach. I like it!" Said Port.

"Come on, Weiss, show it who's boss!" Ruby encouraged, as Weiss turned to give her leader a glare, before the Boarbatusk turned its head, ripping the sword from Weiss' grip. Myrtenaster landed across the room, as Weiss was knocked back by the creature's tusks.

"Oh-ho! Now what will you do without your weapon?" Asked Port, as I found myself looking at Weiss in annoyance.

Weiss looked up just in time to see the Boarbatusk charging at her once more. She quickly got to rolling out of the way of the attack. Just in time too, as the Boarbatusk couldn't stop it's charge and crashed into a nearby desk. Weiss rushed to her sword, sliding down to get it back in her hand.

"Weiss! Go for its belly! There's no armor underneath-" Ruby said, only to be cut off by Weiss.

"Stop telling me what to do!" Weiss snapped, as I tightened my fist.

"Okay, now I see the problem." I said, leaning back in my chair.

The Boarbatusk lept into the air, rolling into a ball. It began to spin rapidly in the air, before landing on the ground, consistently gaining speed until it launched itself at Weiss. It charges closer and closer, but at the last second Weiss activated one of her blue-white glyphs, blocking the roll. She leaped up into the now-black snowflake glyph, as she turned it blue again, sending her towards the Boarbatusk as she thrusted her rapier outwards, driving the weapon into the Boarbatusk's stomach. It squealed in pain, before quickly falling silent, as Weiss sighed in relief.

"Bravo! Bra-vo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training!" Said Port, as Weiss stood up. "I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and... stay vigilant! Class dismissed!"

"We had assigned readings?" I asked in confusion, walking out of my position, watching as Weiss glared at who I could only assume to be Ruby as she hurried out of the room.

Jaune walked up to me. "Jeez, what's with her?"

"Something to do with Ruby is what I can only guess." I said, before shrugging. "Well, I do believe I have somewhere to be, so I'll catch up later!"

I walked out of the room, turning to corner to see Ruby standing in the hallway with a retreating Weiss walking away. "Ozpin made a mistake." Weiss said, as she rounded the corner.

"...Okay, that didn't explain ANY of the questions I had." I said, walking up to Ruby, seeing her looking downcast. "...You okay?"

"Did Ozpin make a mistake? Making me team leader?" Asked Ruby, looking at me on the verge of tears.

"Oh, so that's what this is about." I said, glaring to the side at where Weiss walked off. "Jesus, it's been one day and she's already made up her mind on you? What kind of bullshit is that?"

"Bryce." I turned back to Ruby. "Did Ozpin make a mistake?"

"...Honestly?" I began. "I have no idea. The fact of the matter, is that it's only been one day. You have the ENTIRE semester, hell, four years to get your act together so you can prove to Weiss that you're not a failure at being a team leader. And besides, I've known you for about a month or so now, and out of the four of you, I would've made the same choice Ozpin did."

"Really?" Asked Ruby.

"He's right you know." Said Ozpin, as Ruby and I turned to look at the headmaster. "Ruby... I've made more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on this planet. But at this moment, I would not consider your appointment to leader to be one of them. Do you?"

"Being a team leader isn't just a title you carry into battle, but a badge you wear constantly. If you're not always performing at your absolute best, then what reason do you give others to follow you?" Said Ozpin. "You've been burdened with a daunting responsibility, Ruby. I advise you take some time, to think about how you will uphold it."

Ozpin turned to me. "As for you Bryce, I do believe you were supposed to be in the Combat Arena."

"I uh… was heading over there but uh… Well, my team takes precedence." I said, as Ozpin smiled.

"A good answer. I also assume it's because you don't have a clue as to where it could be." Said Ozpin as I looked to the side. "Who knows for sure…"

"I'll uh, see you later Ruby." I said, as I walked away with Ozpin to the Arena.

* * *

"So what might all this be about?" I asked, as I stood on the arena floor, facing Ozpin who was sitting in the bleachers.

"Unlike the other students of the academy, you have no prior combat experience. Aside from when you're transformed, you don't have any of the knowledge your driver gives you." Said Ozpin. "Which leaves you defenseless to whoever might catch you unaware."

"So I've decided that you'll be getting a… private tutor, we'll say." Said Ozpin, taking a sip from his mug of coffee.

"Private Tutor?" I asked.

A sudden sound of something being shaken filled my ears, as white equations flew past me. My eyes widened, as I looked to the right, seeing a man in a beige coat walk onto the arena floor, shaking two small bottles, one red, and one blue.

He stopped shaking the bottles, snapping the lids into place. "Now, shall we start the experiment?" He asked, placing the red bottle into the first slot on his Driver.

 _ **[RABBIT!]**_

He quickly dropped the blue bottle into the second slot, as I felt a chill go up my spine.

 _ **[TANK!]**_

 _ **[BEST MATCH!]**_

I won't lie, I might have had some trouble holding my excitement in at that proclamation. A mechanical rhythm started to play from the driver, as the man gripped the red lever, turning it round and round.

Pipes emerged from the driver, filled with a red and blue liquid, as two halves of a body formed in front and behind him. The man raised his left hand outwards, before pulling it back, bringing his right arm up in a fighting stance.

" _ **Henshin!**_ " He shouted, bringing his arms in front of him in an x pattern, before swinging them down into a neutral position, as the two sides of his armour slammed together, steam bursting off the armour.

 _ **[Hagane no Moonsault! RabbitTank! Yeahhh!]**_

"I've found the winning formula!" I looked on with wide eyes as Kamen Rider Build stood before me. The Kamen Rider lowered his right arm as he looked at me. "You must be Bryce. Ozpin asked me to help out with your training."

"...No. No way!" I said, looking at Ozpin. "First you and now HIM!?"

"I'm sorry… what's going on right now?" Asked Build, as I turned to face him with a huge smile on my face.

"Sorry it's just I'm kinda really super excited. I mean, it's not everyday where you meet the _brilliant_ physicist, Sento Kiryu, aka Kamen Rider Build… I got that right?" I asked, as Kamen Rider Build took a step back. "I'll take that as a yes."

"He even got my self praising right…" Muttered Build, as I raised an eyebrow. "Anyways, that's right, I'm Sento Kiryu. I'm also teaching you… something. I haven't gotten a good idea yet."

"Anyways, let's begin!" Said Build, as he held out his hand, the Drill Crusher forming quickly after.

I smirked, taking the ZI-O Ride Watch off of the holder as I held it outwards, only for it to be shot out of my hand by Build. "What the hell!?"

"I told you training's already begun!" He shouted, running at me as he changed his weapon back to it's sword form.

I ducked to the side, rolling out of the way of one of his attacks. I clicked my tongue, looking forwards to see my Ride Watch on the floor. I looked back at Build, as he stared back at me, before I made a break for the Ride Watch.

As I closed in, Build began to fire upon me, as I swerved to avoid the attacks. As I closed into the Watch, I leaped forwards, reaching out to grab it, only to find Build standing right in front of me. "What the-!?"

Build swung his foot out, kicking me away from the Ride Watch as he rolled his shoulders. I stood up. "Damn… So it's the speed of the Rabbit Fullbottle then…"

I rolled my neck, as I looked at the driver on my waist. "...Please work…" I muttered, looking back at Build. " _ **EDGE OF TIME!**_ "

I extended my hand forward, as the familiar sword materialized in my hand.

 _ **[ZIKAN GIRADE!]**_

 _ **[KEN!]**_

"Oh neat, I don't need the Ride Watch to do that then…" I said, gripping the sword in my hands. "Let's do this!"

I charged forwards swinging my sword forwards as Build raised his Drill Crusher to block my attack. Pressed the button overtop of the Ride Watch slot, as I broke off from Build.

 _ **[Time Charge! 5...4...3...2...1...ZERO TIME!]**_

I pulled the trigger on my sword, as I charged forwards, swinging my sword once more at Build. The rider raised to block the attack with his weapon, right where I wanted him to be.

 _ **[GIRI GIRI GIRI!]**_

I pushed forward, knocking his weapon out of his hand as the force of the attack sent him flying to the other side of the arena. I quickly ran over to the Ride Watch, picking it up as I twisted the dial, pressing down on the top button.

 _ **{ZI-O!}**_

 _ **[RABBIT!]**_

I turned around, watching as Build inserted the Rabbit Full Bottle into the Drill Crusher, as red energy circled around the drill like a hurricane.

"Not giving me any time to henshin, huh?" I said, as Build charged towards me. "Fine then!"

I placed the ZI-O Ride Watch into the slot on the Zikan Girade, as I spun the sword around in my hand.

 _ **[FINISH TIME!]**_

I pulled the trigger down, as I swung forwards. Build swinging his weapon towards me at the same time.

 _ **[READY, GO! VORTEX BREAK!]**_

 _ **{ZI-O!}**_

 _ **[GIRI GIRI SLASH!]**_

The two finishers collided at once, as I dug my feet into the ground as the shockwave from the collision slammed into me. I grit my teeth, looking up at Build's helmet, before I smirked. I watched as I pressed the release button on the Zikan Girade, the weapon transforming into it's Gun form, as Build looked down in shock.

 _ **{ZI-O!}**_

 _ **[ZURE ZURE SHOOTING!]**_

The energy from the gun exploded against Build's chest, as the masked rider was sent flying, hitting the arena floor as his Transformation deactivated. I lowered my weapon as I let out a sigh of relief, my body burning from the quick yet exhilarating fight.

I took the Ride Watch out of the gun, tossing the weapon to the side as it dematerialized. Sento rolled over, pushing himself off the ground as he turned to look at me. "Was not expecting that outcome."

"Well… neither was I… I guess." I said, placing the Ride Watch back on the holder as I extended my hand to him. "Bryce Bridged aka, Kamen Rider ZI-O."

"I'm the _brilliant_ physicist, Sento Kiryu, aka Kamen Rider Build." Said Sento, as we shook hands. "I look forward to seeing what you can do."

"Well, that was an interesting match." Said Ozpin, walking onto the arena floor. "Tell me, do you know why I have Sento as your instructor?"

I looked over at Ozpin, before thinking on it. "I think… It's because… Oh… Oh! The fullbottles! With a total of 60 individual types, you'd be able to help me train against a variety of enemies! The first that comes to mind would be range training with OctopusLight."

Sento smiled. "He catches on fast."

"I think that's enough for today. I'd recommend spending the rest with you team." Said Ozpin.

I nodded, passing by a janitor as I walked out of the arena.

"Yo Sento! You're done teaching now right?" Asked Banjou, walking up to his fellow Rider. "As I was saying earlier, I think there was a guy walking around with a new driver."

"You mean the one that just left?" Asked Sento, as Banjou turned around to look at my retreating form. "Seriously didn't notice? Well, that's a musclebrain for you…"

"Oi!" Bajou snapped, as I walked out of the arena, trying my best to contain my laughter.

"Oh… that is good…" I said. "Now… where do I go from here?"

"What is that thing!?" I snapped my head to the side, running out of the hallway to see students running away from something.

"Bryce!" Ruby shouted, running up to my left. "What's going on, I heard shouting."

"Honestly? Not a clue." I said, looking ahead to see a blue and gold figure throwing people left and right. "But I'm not standing around to find out!"

I pulled off the ZI-O Ride Watch, twisting the dial to the left before pushing down on the top button.

 _ **{ZI-O!}**_

I swung my arm to the right, before sliding it into the right slot, the methodical ticking of the clock sounding off at the command. My hand moved over the top button of the driver, pressing down as the whole assembly tilted. I moved my arms around in front of me, getting into position.

" _ **Henshin!**_ " I shouted, backhanding the driver with my left arm as the driver spun around, locking into place with a ring of the bell.

 _ **[RIDER TIME!]**_

 _ **{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}**_

I quickly crossed my arms before bringing them to my sides, three watch bands suddenly forming around me as they spun around, granting me my armour. The word 'Rider' slammed into my visor, as my transformation was completed.

I brought my hand up to the watch crown on the side of my helmet, making a twisting motion with it. "At this moment in time…" I began.

The monster suddenly came into full view, as my eyes widened, before I suddenly got very confused. "...Is that…"

"Cross-Z?" Asked Ruby, as I let my hand fall to my side.

The creature in front of me happened to look a lot of Cross-Z, or at least, base form Cross-z. The dragons used as Cross-Z visor had gotten a lot more realistic looking, though still keeping their transparent look to them. The armour itself seemed to have taken on the look and probably properties of dragon scale. The shoulder and chest armour seemed to have been crafted out of what I assumed to be the wing of a dragon. The driver on it's waist looked to be more like a strange artifact, the whole thing looking like it was made out of stone, while the Cross-Z dragon looked like a sleeping Dragon resting on top of it. 'Cross-Z' was printed over one side of it's shoulder guard, and '2017' was printed on the other.

"...Another Rider…" I muttered. "Oh no..."

"What's going on here!?" Banjou asked, running over to Ruby and I, Sento in tow. "What the hell!?"

"Strange… it looks like base form Cross-z…" Muttered Sento.

"Who cares about that! We need to help these people!" Said Ruby.

"She makes a point." I said, as Banjou looked to me.

"Woah! You're that kid that Sento's teaching!" Said Banjou.

"What!?" Ruby exclaimed, turning me to look at her. "Why didn't you tell me your being taught by a Kamen Rider!?"

"I would've if I knew!" I said. "And don't we have more important things to deal with? We don't have time for any more standing around and having revelations right now!"

"He's right." Said Sento, taking the Build Driver out. "It doesn't matter what it looks like, we need to take it down."

"Right!" Said Banjou taking out his.

The two slapped their drivers against their waists, as Sento took out a red device, while Banjou grabbed Great Cross-Z.

Sento flipped what looked to be a protective casing, before he pushed down on the red button.

 _ **{HAZARD ON!}**_

Sento placed the Hazard Trigger into his driver, before taking out a long gold and silver device, he shook it a few times, as a hopping sound reverberated around us.

 _ **[RABBIT!]**_

Sento folded the fullfullbottle in two, before placing it into his driver.

 _ **[RABBIT AND RABBIT!]**_

Banjou snapped the top of the golden dragon Evol-bottle to the open position, before placing the bottle into the slot on the top of Great Cross-Z Dragon, pressing down on the button on the front of the dragon.

 _ **[KAKUSEI!]**_

Banjou quickly proceeded to fold the head and tail of the dragon up, before he placed it into his Build Driver.

 _ **[GREAT CROSS-Z DRAGON!]**_

The two rider grabbed the red handle on the side of both of their drivers, cranking the lever until that wonderful question was asked.

 _ **[ARE YOU READY!?]**_

" _ **Henshin!**_ " The two of the shouted.

 _ **[OVERFLOW!]**_

 _ **[WAKE UP CROSS-Z! GET GREAT DRAGON! YEAH!]**_

 _ **[KURENAI NO SPEEDY JUMPER! RABBITRABBIT! YABEI! HAEI!]**_

I watched in awe as Kamen Rider Build and Kamen Rider Cross-Z transformed in front of me. Ruby had stars in her eyes as the two finished their henshins.

"That is so cool!" Ruby exclaimed.

"You might want to move to the side." I told her, as she nodded, eagerly awaiting the fight.

"Well, shall we?" Asked Build, as I nodded, walking up next to Cross-Z.

"Let's do this." I said.

"I get the feeling I can't lose!" Banjou announced, as the three of us charged Another Cross-Z.

" _ **EDGE OF TIME!**_ " I shouted, the sword materializing in my hand.

 _ **[ZIKAN GIRADE!]**_

 _ **[KEN!]**_

I swung low at the Another Rider, before swinging up to the left, scraping across it's scale like armour. "Shit, not doing anything!"

I looked back up, seeing the Another Rider throwing a punch at me, it's fist on fire. Cross-Z quickly jumped in and countered with a punch of his own. "How you like this!?"

"Thank you!" I said, jumped back to Build as said rider took out his weapon.

 _ **[FULLBOTTLE BUSTER!]**_

"I can't pierce it's hide!" I said, spinning my sword around in my hand. "Banjou seems to be able to handle it though!"

"Then maybe Dragon will work." Said Build, taking out the dragon full bottle and inserting it into the Fullbottle Buster.

 _ **[DRAGON!]**_

I watched a blue energy seemed to form around the barrel of the gun, before Sento pulled the trigger.

 _ **[FULLBOTTLE BREAK!]**_

The shot launched ahead, as Banjou quickly jumped to the side to avoid the attack. The ball of draconic energy slammed into the Another Rider, as was quickly engulfed in blue flames.

"...I don't think we're done yet." I said, watching as Another Cross-Z came out of the fire perfectly fine.

"So it's not dragon then…" Said Build, turning the weapon into its sword form. "This might get troublesome."

"Hey… what if it's Cross-Z?" I asked, as Build looked at me. "I mean… Cross-z is the only one doing any damage right now. What if it's that power specifically?"

"...Wait, that device on your driver." Build said, as I turned to him. "It's the same…"

"Same as what?" I asked, before Build handed me a blue and gold Ride Watch. "This is…"

"If what your saying is true, then you might be able to use it." Said Build, as I looked at the Ride Watch in my hand.

"Let's hope." I said walking forwards, gripping the Ride Watch.

"By using that Watch you will inherit Cross-Z's power." Said Woz, as he walked up to me.

"Jesus!" I shouted, jumping to the left as Build and I looked at Woz. "Stop doing that!"

"According to this book, victory will include a fair deal of responsibility. Are you prepared for that, sire?" Woz said, closing his book.

"...If I don't do this now, that thing could hurt more people. Besides, with great power comes great responsibility, right?" I said, as I extended my left hand, twisting the Ride Watch's dial to the right, before pressing the button on the top.

 _ **{CROSS-Z!}**_

I quickly slid the Ride Watch into the left side of the driver, as the Another Rider turned to face me, knocking Banjou to the side. I pressed down on the top of the driver, before pushing the right side down with my thumb, giving the driver a full rotation.

 _ **[RIDER TIME!]**_

 _ **{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}**_

In a single moment, a set of armour formed in front of me. The shoulders were the most noticeable, being two base Cross-Z dragons with a full bottle in each of them. The suit itself was mainly the silver look Cross-Z Charge had on it, but with specific areas highlighted with the Blue and gold flames the normal suit had. The face had the dragon design Cross-z had underneath the clock hands, with the word 'Cross-Z' in japanese on the visor. I placed my hand against the armour, as it burst apart, before flying back at me.

 _ **[ARMOUR TIME!]**_

 _ **{WAKE UP BURNING! CROSS-Z!}**_

The armour quickly formed around me, as I felt powerful energy run through me. Woz walked up next to me, opening his book. "REJOICE! He is the heir to the power of all riders! The Ruler of time, travelling beyond time and space to reign over past and future…"

"He is Kamen Rider ZI-O: Cross-Z Armour. And in this moment he has received the power of another rider!" Announced Woz, gesturing to me.

I smirked, punching my right hand into my open palm. "I get the feeling I can't lose!"

I charged forwards, blue flames gathering in my arm as I threw a right hook at Another Cross-Z. The flames licked his scales, as he flew backwards.

"It's working!" Build exclaimed.

"Hey Cross-Z, catch!" I shouted, sweeping the Another Rider's legs before upper cutting it over to Cross-Z.

"Got it!" Shouted Cross-Z, inserting a Fullbottle into his Beat Crosser.

 _ **[SPECIAL TUNE!]**_

 _ **[HIT PARADE! HIT PARADE!]**_

 _ **[MILLION HIT!]**_

Cross-Z swung his sword towards his monster doppelganger, as a wave of techno energy slammed into the monster's front, sending him flying back towards me.

"Good heavens, would you look at the time!" I shouted, pressing the top buttons on both Ride Watches.

 _ **{FINISH TIME!}**_

 _ **{CROSS-Z!}**_

I quickly pushed down on the top button of the driver, before swiping my left hand to the top right, my left hand slamming into the left slot of the driver as I struck the iconic pose as the Driver quickly spun around to it's neutral position.

 _ **{DRAGONIC!}**_

 _ **{TIME BREAK!}**_

I extended my arms to the side, as blue fire spread around my foot. I stole a glance behind me to see a transparent blue dragon behind me. I smirked, looking forwards as I jumped up, swinging my leg to the side as the dragon unleashed a blast of fire behind me, sending me flying towards the Another Rider, sending the monster crashing to the ground.

I landed crouched, as I flicked my right hand as the monster exploded behind me. "Time's up."

I stood up, looking behind me to see the form of a civilian lying on the ground. Next to him was a black RideWatch with Another Cross-Z's face on it. As I reached to pick it up, the Ride Watch suddenly exploded into a million pieces.

I pulled both Ride Watches off of the Driver, deactivating my transformation as Banjou and Sento walked over to me.

"That… was awesome." I said simply, placing the ZI-O Ride Watch on the holder, before looking at Banjou. I looked down at the Cross-Z Ride Watch before I looked back at Banjou. "...You can still transform?"

"What kind of question is that?" Asked Banjou. "Of course I can!"

"Then… what the hell kind of Ride Watch did you give me?" I asked Sento.

"Well… I had it on me when I woke up one day." Said Sento, looking at Banjou.

"You mean when you arrived on Remnant." I said, as the two looked at me with wide eyes. "I'm not stupid guys, the fact I knew about the full bottles should've given away the fact I'm also not from around here."

"Guess that means Banjou isn't the only alien around here then, huh?" I asked, as Banjou blinked at me. "Yeah… I might know a fair amount of stuff…"

"That was so cool!" Ruby exclaimed, appearing next to Sento in a flurry of rose petals. "You were all like 'Good heavens-!' and then the monster was like 'BWaaah!' OH IT WAS SO COOL!"

"...Uh…" Sento took a step back from the girl as she got closer to me with stars in her eyes.

"If there's one thing I learned, it's that Kamen Riders apparently win over weapons for her." I said, before looking back at the guy. "That was like a memory break or something along those lines…"

"Banjou, help me bring him to the infirmary!" Said Sento, running over to the civilian. "You two, enjoy the rest of your day."

I nodded, watching as Sento and Banjou carried off the Civilian. "...Dust. I'll talk about mixing dust or something like that." Said Sento, as they walked off into the academy walls.

"And thus ZI-O gained the power of Cross-Z, however, his path of conquest had only just begun." Said Woz, reading from the book in his hands.

"There he is again…" I muttered. "Ruby, this is Woz. Woz… I don't think he cares right now."

"However, his meeting with another legend was already at hand…" Said Woz, as I looked towards him.

"...So you mind explaining something to me?" I asked, as Woz turned around, closing his book. "Why is it that Cross-Z still has his powers? Since the Ride Watches steal a Rider's power, and said Rider's existence-Wait, Banjou shouldn't even exist right now, he should be back in the old world Sento merged with this one!"

"The Cross-Z Ride Watch is a special case." Said Woz, motioning to the Ride Watch in my hand. "Two instances of Rider's Power cannot exist at the same time, so Kamen Rider Cross-Z can't exist in this world, but the power of the Great Cross-Z Dragon can exist in this world."

"Great Cross-Z Dragon?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why's that the difference?"

"The Cross-Z Dragon never existed in this world, the Great Cross-Z Dragon has on the other hand. Because of this, the power of Cross-Z can exist in this world alongside Great Cross-Z, with enough of a difference between the two for the power to continue existing." Said Woz. "Think of it this way, The power of Cross-Z only ever existed in the past of the old world, however now that the two worlds have merged, the power exists here as the Ride Watch, technically a new power to this world."

"I… think I get the jist of it." I said, as Woz smiled.

"Then I will depart for the day." Said Woz, bowing, before he turned to Ruby. "Congratulations. The day of your ascension is fast approaching. I can't wait to see what you'll do, Lady Rose."

"Lady Rose?" Ruby asked, as Woz walked away. "Wonder what that was all about?"

"...I wish I knew." I answered, watching his retreating form. I looked down at the Cross-Z Ride Watch, a smile forming on my face.


	6. Chapter 3-5: Time for an explanation

"Stand aside please!" Sento shouted to the students in the hallway, as he ran down the hall with Banjou, the man who had emerged from the Another Rider carried between the two.

They eventually slowed to a stop as Banjou knocked on the door to the inferary. The door slid to the side, as a man in a white doctor's coat looked out. "Yes? What seems to be the problem... Bring him inside."

The doctor quickly got to work clearing some space to put the man down on, as Sento and Banjou placed the man on an empty table.

"What happened to him?" Asked the doctor, walking up next to the patient.

"We're not sure. One second he was a monster, the next he was like this." Said Sento, putting a hand to his chin.

"Is that so? I'll keep an eye on him for now. If anything comes up, I'll let the two of you know." Said the man, as he turned around, facing Sento.

"Thanks for the help." Said Sento, nodding to the Doctor, as he left with Banjou.

The doctor nodded, before walking over to a closed curtain, opening it up to show a man in strange clothes sitting on a bed, his face staring at a handheld as his fingers mashed on the buttons. "Hey Parado, can you keep an eye on him for a few minutes, I need to speak to Ozpin about something."

The sound of a game being cleared echoed from the handheld, as the man stood up. "I can keep watch." Said the man, dusting his purple pants. "Don't take too long now, Emu."

"Got it!" Emu said, walking out of the inferary, grabbing a red and white stethoscope on his way out.

"...Wonder what might be your deal?" Parado asked, looking at the patient.

* * *

It's been a day since the incident with the Another Rider yesterday, and it was about time for combat training. "Today was uneventful…" I muttered, walking out of class for the day, as I walked down to the combat arena.

"Bryce!" I turned my head to the right as Ruby ran towards me. "You're heading over to your combat training, right?'

"...Yeah… Why?" I asked, as giving a look to Ruby, as placed her hands together.

"PLEASE LET ME WATCH!" Ruby begged, causing me to jump back.

"Jesus!" I shouted, letting out a breath as I collected myself. "...Yeah, it should be fine." I said, nodding.

"Alright!" Ruby exclaimed, cheering.

I felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of my head at this. "Right… Oh, we're here."

I walked into the arena with Ruby, watching as Ozpin stood at the centre of the arena. "Ah, Bryce, I see you brought Ruby along with you."

"She was kinda… forceful on her want to watch today's training." I said, crossing my arms as I stood up.

"Well she can sit in the viewing gallery for now. Professor Kiryu is currently working on getting his class in order." Said Ozpin. "We've needed someone who knew physics as well as he did."

"Great… Physics…" I muttered. "Not like I would even understand the basics in the first place."

"With that said, today you'll be training with our backup." Said Ozpin, stepping to the side, as Banjou walked onto the arena floor. "I heard you gained a new power. Why not show me what you're capable of?"

I nodded, rolling my shoulders as I grabbed the ZI-O Ride Watch off the holder, while I pulled the Cross-Z Ride Watch out of my pocket. I twisted both dials before pressing each respective button on the Ride Watches.

 _ **{ZI-O!}**_

 _ **{CROSS-Z!}**_

Banjou smirked. "Well, show me what you got kid!" He shouted, pulling out a red and orange looking device, styled like a knuckle of some kind.

"The Magma Knuckle…" I muttered.

"Your knowledge is starting to freak me out…" Banjou stated. "When this is over you have some explaining to do."

"Was going to explain myself anyways, let's see what you can do!" I shouted, sliding both Ride Watches on their respective slot at the same time, the clock started to tick behind me.

Banjou pulled up a black fullbottle with an orange cap, which he snapped into place before slamming it into the top of the Magma Knuckle.

 _ **[BOTTLE BURN!]**_

Banjou slammed the Knuckle onto his driver, the front opening up to show the bottle lighting up.

 _ **[CROSS-Z MAGMA!]**_

Banjou gripped the handle of his driver as he twisted the lever over and over, before he punched his hand, getting into position. " _ **HENSHIN!**_ " He shouted, throwing his arms to his sides as he tensed for the lava that should've poured onto him.

Key word being should've.

"What the… Why the hell aren't you working!?" Asked Banjou, fiddling with the knuckle. "Dammit, this is just like with Evolto…"

"Try Great Cross-Z." I said, as Banjou looked up. "We've confirmed that one works, right?"

"Yeah." He said, taking the gold Evolbottle out and raised his hand up, the Great Cross-Z Dragon flying into it. Banjou snapped the cap into it's open position, before placing it into the Dragon and pressing the button.

 _ **[KAKUSEI!]**_

Banjou removed the Magma Knuckle out of the Driver, before placing the Great Cross-Z Dragon in it's place.

 _ **[GREAT CROSS-Z DRAGON!]**_

Banjou gripped the Magma knuckle in his left hand, while he gripped the lever of his driver in his right, twisting it around until the driver rang out.

 _ **[ARE YOU READY!?]**_

" _ **Henshin!**_ " Shouted Banjou, as the Great Cross-Z Dragon armour formed around him.

 _ **[WAKE UP CROSS-Z! GET GREAT DRAGON! YEAH!]**_

Banjou switched the Magma Knuckle to his right hand, slamming his open palm into the front of the knuckle.

"Right, the Knuckle may not help you transform, but it still is an excellent weapon." I Said, nodding, before I smirked. "Best get back into the fray then."

I pushed down on the top of the driver, bringing my arms over my head before resting the to the right. " _ **Henshin!**_ " I shouted, backhanding the right slot of the driver, giving it a full rotation as I activated the henshin.

 _ **[RIDER TIME!]**_

 _ **{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}**_

The ZI-O armour quickly formed around my, as the Cross-Z armour formed to my left. I placed my hand against the suit as it quickly split apart and latched onto my form.

 _ **[ARMOUR TIME!]**_

 _ **{WAKE UP BURNING! CROSS-Z!}**_

I rolled my shoulders, slamming my fist into my open palm, mimicking Banjou across from me. "I get the feeling I can't lose!" I shouted, running at him.

"That's my line!" He responded, swinging high at my head with his Magma Knuckle. Time seemed to slow for me, as I tilted to the right, delivering an uppercut to his chin in retaliation.

Banjou stumbled back, before slamming his open palm against the front of the Magma Knuckle, the sound of it charging up growing louder and louder. I quickly pushed down on the buttons on each Ride Watch, before pushing down on the top button of the driver, unlocking it.

 _ **{FINISH TIME!}**_

 _ **{CROSS-Z!}**_

"Good heavens, would you look at the time?" I said, spinning the driver around as blue flames started to form around my arm. " _ **Rider Punch!**_ "

 _ **{DRACONIC!}**_

 _ **{TIME BREAK!}**_

Banjou ran towards me, as he threw his fist, the Magma Knuckle lit ablaze.

 _ **[VOLCANIC KNUCKLE!]**_

Our fists scrapped together, as they slid to the side, closing in on the other's head. It was in that single moment, that Banjou's Magma Knuckle slammed into my face, sending me flying in an explosion of fire and magma.

 _ **[ACHA!]**_

I dropped to the floor, rolling to a stop as my transformation deactivated. I groaned, standing up as I picked up the Ride Watches that had been removed when I was forced out of my transformation. "That… was a ride." I said, walking over to Banjou, as the musclehead let out a sigh, taking out the Great Cross-Z Dragon from his driver.

"You did pretty well." Said Banjou, walking over to me. "Though your hand to hand could use some work."

"Well, I had maybe a week of hand to hand training in general so…" I began, looking to the side.

"Well, then I think I can work something out." Said Ozpin, walking down to the arena. "Up until now, Ryuga Banjou has been working at Beacon under the position of Janitor. The reason for this is because I was unsure if Banjou would be able to teach anything substantial for the students to warrant a teaching position, but this does give an idea…"

"What would you think about teaching the future huntresses and hunters about hand to hand, seeing as most of them are only trained in their own weapon?" Asked Ozpin, looking at Banjou.

"Teaching, huh?" Banjou said, looking to the side. "You know what, sure. Beats janitor work."

The door to the Arena opened up, as Sento walked in, a hand on his chin. "-s that he should have more access to it than he already does." Sento muttered to himself.

"Oi! Sento!" Banjou shouted. "Guess who's not a janitor anymore!"

"They let a musclebrain like you teach classes?" Asked Sento in confusion.

"Oi!" Banjou shouted. "Just because I'm not a narcissistic physicist doesn't mean I can't teach things to people!"

"Professor Banjou will be helping with the sparring class to help with hand to hand. He will also be working as your assistant in your class." Said Ozpin, taking a sip from his cup. There was a ping sound, as Ozpin pulled his scroll out. "If you'll excuse me, the Doctor wishes to have a word with me."

I watched the retreating back of Ozpin, while Sento mulled the words over in his head.

"Assistant huh?" Sento muttered, looking to the side. "Oh right! I've been meaning to ask-"

"Oh, Sento! We need to talk about something first!" Banjou interjected, as Sento turned to his friend.

"If it's about how Bryce knows so much about us I was just about to ask that."

"No- well, yeah, but not that." Banjou said. "It's about Magma."

"What about it?" Sento asked, crossing his arms.

"I can't transform into that form." Said Banjou, crossing his arms. "The Knuckle still works, but only as a weapon."

"...It might have something to do with the Ride Watch." I said, as they looked to me. "Well… Magma was a base Cross-Z form, yeah? It would make sense that when Base Cross-Z's power was sealed in the Cross-Z Ride Watch, that it would lock out the upgrade forms as well."

"...Then I'll have to look into an upgrade for Great Cross-Z then." Said Sento, nodding to himself.

"I mean… there is the Hazard Trigger option." I said, as the two looked at me before shuddering. "Oh right, Blood."

"And he knows about him too!" Banjou said, grabbing my shoulders. "How much do you know!?"

"A lot of it, almost everything. I'm a bit fuzzy on the details surrounding Blood and the other heads of the country when Cross-Z Build was a thing." I said, as Banjou stepped back. "Look, I can explain this later, just… not in a totally open space like this."

"Follow me." Said Sento, walking to the door.

* * *

I sighed, looking at the group of Ruby, Banjou and Sento, all sitting with me in what I assumed was their dorm. "Follow me." Said Sento, as he walked over to a… fridge?

"No… You didn't." I said, as Sento opened the fridge door to show a passageway to a lower level. "You did…!"

"After you." Said Sento, as I nodded, ducking through the fridge as I walked to the lower floor.

"Wow…" I said, looking in front of me. It seems in the year they've been here, Sento had reconstructed the hidden underside of the cafe from his world. "Well, I don't see the purification machine here so I guess it's not a 100% match…"

"Right, let's get started, as Sento pulled out a white board from the side and picked up a marker. "Okay! So, we're here, on Remnant. Banjou and I are here, Earth."

"Ooh...! Isn't that where you're from as well, Bryce?" Asked Ruby, looking at me.

"Sort of, make another Earth, no Skywall." I told Sento, as Sento made another round circle, while marking the skywall on his earth.

"As I was saying. Banjou and I arrived one year ago when we merged our old world with a new one." Said Sento, drawing lines between his Earth and Remnant.

"I'm surprised, I'd expect more people to show up. Considering it's just you two…" I said.

"Well… I'm not too sure THIS is the world we merged together." Said Sento, erasing the lines between the two worlds. "The world we saw was the exact same as our own, so the only thing I can assume is that when the worlds merged, Banjou and I ended up on Remnant due to us being entities that wouldn't exist in the other world."

"So how'd you guys end up here?" I asked, leaning back. "It might have had something to do with that portal thing you guys were taking Evol down in."

"That's a good enough guess as any." Said Sento, nodding. "So now that we explained how we got here, how'd you get here?"

I stood up, walking towards the whiteboard as I drew a Blank Ride Watch. "This was how. I'm not sure of the details but I think it had something to do with my personal watch."

"...Could I see one of thes-"

"No!" I snapped, taking a step back. I let out a sigh. "I just… Sorry, not right now."

"...Okay." Said Sento. "So, why exactly do you know us so well?"

"This'll be a long story." I said, taking out my phone and looking around, finding a speaker as I connected it up and hit play.

" _ **In the city of Touto, home to the brilliant physicist Kiryuu Sento, mysterious monsters called Smash are attacking the citizens. It's then that our hero, Kamen Rider appears!**_ "

"That's…!" Sento looked at me, as all attention was on me.

" _ **Brilliant? Hero? You're just some dorky old dude with amnesia!**_ " The voice of Banjou rung out.

"And me…?" Banjou asked in confusion.

" _ **Shut it! This here is Banjou Ryuga, escaped convict and murderer.**_ "

" _ **I ain't none of those things!**_ "

" _ **In my infinite kindness, I took pity on his crying and begging, and turned into a public enemy of Touto to help him escape-**_ " I cut off the last few seconds of the Final Episode of Build, as the two turned to me.

"That… was the ending of Kamen Rider Build." I said, as Sento's eyes shot wide. "Kamen Rider Build… was a TV show, in my world. It's been one for many years now. Your show ended when you beat Evol, and fused with the mainline continuity."

"But we didn't." Said Sento.

"Right." I answered. "You wanted an answer as to why I know so much, I do because I was a fan of the show… I cried when you cried, and laughed when you did… You have my condolences."

I looked to the right, letting out a sigh. "Everything turned out well in the end, but at a great cost…"

"...Well, you two better get back to your dorms." Said Sento, motioning to two of us away. "I need to prepare for my class tomorrow."

"Why the hell am I your assistant again?" Asked Banjou.

"It wasn't my choice." Said Sento, as I smiled, walking up the stairway and out of the Refrigerator with Ruby.

"So… It's a show in your world?" Asked Ruby.

"Yeah. Well, Kamen Rider is, I don't know about this place, never seen this in a show before so…" I said, shrugging.

"But that means you know the riders more than me! I can't accept it!" Shouted Ruby, pouting at me.

"...I do have an entire season of Kamen Rider on my phone." I said, and in a literal split second, Ruby's eyes seemed to freaking sparkle, as she looked at me in expectancy. "...Okay fine, but only on weekend binging."

"Yes!" Ruby shouted, jumping in the air.

 **(LINE BREAK)**

"Parado, I'm back." Said Emu, walking into the room. "How's the patient?"

"Hasn't woken up yet, but I've sensed something weird from him." Said Parado, as Emu walked over.

"You think it might be…?" Emu asked, to which Parado nodded. "I'll be one second."

Emu walked over to his desk, opening one of the drawers to show a green and pink driver of some kind. The doctor grabbed the driver, placing it against his waist as a belt formed around him.

Emu walked back over to the patient, putting on his stethoscope as a holographic screen popped up, warning signs popping up on the screen.

"Bugster." Said Emu, standing up. "Parado, take him to the CR room in the back."

"And where may you be going?" Asked Parado.

"I need to tell Ozpin about this." Said Emu, running off.

Parado smiled. "That's Emu for you…" He said, placing the patient onto a stretcher as he pushed the man into a back room.


	7. Chapter 4: Continuing a Legacy

**(Author's Note)**

 **Hey guys, 0n3dgeGaming here… And I totally forgot to do an Author's Note last chapter.**

 **...Well shit, let's catch up on them reviews then.**

 **Reviews to Chapter 3:**

 **To LegionnaireBlaze: Look let's just drop this Eji catchprase thing with me being right. I'm not saying he's bad for not having a catchphrase, his saying of holding his hand out will probably be used here a lot too considering it's really inspiring, but it's not much of a catchphrase. Also, thanks. The armour design was from a video on Youtube by someone… I don't remember the user ID to…**

 **To Xivitai: In hindsight, I'm ashamed I didn't realize the mistake. Thanks for pointing it out. I should've gotten it fixed by now, if not, shame on past me.**

 **To Guest: Hmm… We don't NEED them… but I like the idea of… at least the Cross-Z one.**

 **To Revamped Persona: The dead Ride Watch Idea might work… but I have other loopholes in mind, so I might not use it. Also the whole… knowing too much was explained last chapter, as you already know.**

 **To LoamyCoffee: Don't get ahead of yourself just yet, I got a… relatively decent explanation for the name coming up this chapter.**

 **To TheOkWriter: Thanks for your pointers. Technically ZI-O is the heir to ALL Rider's Powers, as said by our glorious prophet Woz, but I can understand the… negative feelings towards the Cross-Z Ride Watch. I liked the idea of it because it was a watch that could be used without someone's powers being taken to use it (Well… not fully being taken.) Also, if the V-cinema is to believed… at the very least Banjou could still Henshin in that new world. And when other Ride Watches pop up, Riders WILL lose their powers.**

 **To Tony Trill: See top Review response for my response on Eji's catchphrase. It's fine, I just see it more as a motto that's really cool, yet not really a normal catchphrase.**

 **To Hakuryukou79: That… is in the spoiler territory. Also, thanks.**

 **To deltadragon373: I dunno…**

 **To NewbieRead13: First: Yes, he's ZI-O, the KING OF TIME, of course he will… Not sure when though, eventually, probably. Second: Who knows? Third: I don't think I'll be doing a taisen… however I'd do that considering it's already a full on crossover between every rider.**

 **And that's all of the ones I should've answered earlier! Onto Chapter 3-5 Reviews!**

 **To Taiman215: Not sure yet, want to see how Woz acts once he becomes a Rider.**

 **To TheOKWriter: Yeah… Because the OC's who hide that truth because their scared of the people rejecting them are obviously better… I don't know if Text sarcasm works as well I think it is. Point is, yeah it's anticlimactic, but I'd rather see someone explain first before I feel my trust broken.**

 **To Tony Trill: More questions… should've been asked in hindsight, but it was a -5 chapter so I didn't want it to go on too long, already felt like an actual chapter starting there…**

 **To Revamped Persona: I showed a tad bit of Bryce's stance on the Ride Watch stealing power during the last -5 chapter, very briefly mind you, but it'll come up more this chapter.**

 **To Cross-Z Magma: Happy belated birthday! If this comes out on the day I planned… I should be turning 18. (If it uploads on the 19th)**

 **To Guest (Geiz): ...It sounds like something out of a crackfic? That's... I don't know what to really think about that.**

 **With all that out of the way… ONTO THE STORY!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING!**

* * *

 _Five feet above the ground, there was a single scoop of Ice Cream, falling to the ground off of a Little Girl's cone. Well, falling wouldn't be the right way to put it, seeing as it was floating in the air in some kind of stasis like state._

 _Much like the Ice Cream Cone, everything else surrounding this tiny incident was frozen, stuck unmoving, unaware of the events around them. Unlike Real Life, where they were… already unaware of the events around them, the people walking down this street were frozen in time._

 _A boy in a blue coat walked forwards, a smile on his face as stopped behind a girl in a lightish blue jacket. "So it looks like things didn't work out…" The boy said, as the girl stopped, turning around. "With that Rider of yours."_

" _Well, someone interfered." Said the Girl, sighing. "ZI-O_."

" _The Old Man actually came back?"_

" _Not exactly, it's his younger self. I didn't stay to chat." Said the Girl turning around. "I don't plan to leave things as they are now."_

" _Well I'll be watching with excitement then, Ora." Said the Boy walking away as time started to move again._

* * *

"Combat class today. You excited?" Asked Yang, walking next to me.

"Excited… wouldn't be the word I'd use here." I said, sighing. "If I'm not allowed to transform, I'll be without my armour… and considering I can't activate my aura, if any is even there, it could end up like that time we sparred with your shotgun gauntlets."

"Yeah… sorry about that." Said Yang, running her hand through the back of her head. "I'm just glad that surgeon was in to operate after I…"

"Blew a hole in my chest that had the surgeon working on me for 3 hours? I had so many drugs in my system that I couldn't even see his face." I said as we walked into the arena doors. "...I should ask Sento about my aura problem, maybe he can help me out…?"

"Yang! Bryce! We saved you seats!" Ruby shouted, waving to the two of us.

"And that's our cue to change the subject!" I said, running over to the rest of Team RWBY.

I sat down next to Ruby, as Glynda walked onstage with Banjou close behind. "The school has taken a notice that most of you are not adept in hand to hand, mostly choosing to become the best with your personal weapons. While knowing every inch of your weapon from memory and how it works is one of the most important parts of being a hunter, there will be times you are without your weapons."

"Which brings me to today. This is Professor Banjou, and he will be teaching hand to hand to those who don't know it, while helping those who already have a fair grasp improve." Said Glynda, motioning for Banjou to step forwards. "...Yang. Your skill in hand to hand is one of the strongest in your class, would you mind having a spare with Professor Banjou?"

"I'll play along." Said Yang, punching her open palm.

"The first half of the fight will be with no weapons, semblances permitted. At the halfway point, this rule lifts." Said Glynda, as Yang walked to the arena floor.

"So you're this 'Banjou' Ruby and Bryce wouldn't shut up about on initiation day… your uniform looks a bit tight by the way!" Yang shouted towards Banjou, as the Rider smirked and rolled his head.

"I could say the same to your jacket!" Banjou shouted back, as I turned to look at Ruby with a worried expression. "Zipper don't work anymore?"

Yang smirked, getting into her combat stance, while Banjou punched his open palm and got ready.

"...Begin!" Glynda announced as the two brawlers rushed each other, Banjou holding his fists close to his head to defend himself from any attacks Yang might send at his head.

Yang closed the distance, throwing a fist at Banjou's midsection, before following it up with an overhead aimed at Banjou's face. The boxer took the hit in the midsection in stride, batting away the overhead strike as he launched his fist forwards, slamming into the blonde's nose.

Yang stumbled back. "Boxing style huh? I can play your game." She said, getting into a similar stance as the two started to circle each other.

"...Any bets?" I asked, looking at my friends. "20 Lien on Banjou winning."

"20 on Yang!" Ruby said, leaning forwards.

"Is now really the time to be betting money, especially on your teammates?" Asked Weiss, as we turned to look at her.

"...Yes." We responded.

"I don't know why I bother…" Weiss muttered.

"...20 on Yang!" Nora said, as Ruby smirked.

"Looks like I'm on my own then." I said, crossing my arms with a knowing smirk.

"...20 on Professor Banjou." Said Pyrrha, as we turned to her.

"And now things are interesting." I said, smirking as I leaned forwards.

Banjou made the first move this time, quickly closing the distance between them as he threw a punch aimed at Yang's solar plexus. Yang quickly batted the fist away from her as she threw another fist at Banjou's head. The fist scraped against the side of his temple, as Banjou leaned to the left and threw a haymaker at Yang's unguarded face.

Banjou's fist slammed into Yang's cheek, his punch igniting with blue fire as Yang was knocked back by the force and strength of the attack.

"Ooh… I see Banjou's letting some of his Hazard Level loose…" I muttered, watching as Banjou shook his left hand, the Dragon Evol-Bottle clenched firmly within.

"Weapons are now permitted." Said Glynda, as Banjou grabbed his Build Driver out from his coat, placing it against his waist.

Yang smirked, pumping her fists forwards, as her gauntlets activated and loaded up. Not waisting a second, Yang fired behind her, rocketing towards her opponent, who tossed the Dragon Evol-Bottle into the air as he got back into his boxing stance.

"Why'd he do that?" Asked Weiss, as I smirked.

"Watch and learn. This might look familiar." I said, as Yang closed in.

Yang swung forwards, throwing a punch a few feet away from Banjou, a shotgun blast speeding towards the Rider who remained in his stance.

 _ **[CROSS-Z FLAME!]**_

A blast of blue fire collided with the shotgun blast from Yang, as the Great Cross-Z Dragon flew around Banjou's head.

"The Dragon can use the energy from the bottle and use it to attack, as seen here." I said, motioning to the arena floor.

"So cool…" Ruby muttered.

Banjou reached up, grabbing the Great Cross-Z Dragon as he folded the tail and head up, pressing the button on the front to activate it's transceiver mode.

 _ **[KAKUSEI!]**_

Banjou slammed the Great Cross-Z Dragon into his driver, before gripping the left side of the driver and grabbing the crank to henshin.

 _ **[GREAT CROSS-Z DRAGON!]**_

Banjou rotated the crank as the Snap Ride Builder formed around him, his rider armour at the ready.

 _ **[ARE YOU READY!?]**_

" _ **Henshin!**_ " Banjou exclaimed, punching his open palm before swinging his arms to his sides, the Snap Ride Builder closing around him, forming the armour around him.

 _ **[WAKE UP CROSS-Z! GET GREAT DRAGON! YEAH!]**_

"I get the feeling I can't lose!" Shouted Banjou, taking out the Magma Knuckle and inserting the magma fullbottle.

 _ **[BOTTLE BURN!]**_

"Professor Banjou's a Kamen Rider?" Asked Weiss in shock.

"Isn't he cool!?' Ruby asked, nodding in excitement.

"It feels like you're routing for him for than your sister now." I said, as Ruby stopped and looked at me. "No changing of bets."

"Oh poop." Nora pouted to the side.

"Now we're talking!" Yang said, smirking as she charged one more. She reeled back her fist, sliding up to Banjou as she threw her punch forwards, the impact coupled with the resulting shotgun blast caused sparks to fly off of Banjou's armour as Yang continued her assault, throwing her other fist forwards before repeating the steps.

Banjou stumbled back, slamming his palm onto his Magma Knuckle, a guitar riff suddenly sounding out that grew louder and louder the longer he held it down. Banjou swung forwards, the front of the knuckle glowing red from the heat it was generating, as it slammed into Yang's midsection.

 _ **[VOLCANIC KNUCKLE!]**_

 _ **[ACHA!]**_

The force behind the attack knocked the wind out of Yang, as the blonde brawler was sent flying to the other side of the arena, rolling to a stop off of the stage.

"Oh you're in for it now!" Yang shouted, standing up as she cocked her weapons.

Banjou rolled his shoulders, getting back into position, before the arena bell rang, as the two fighters looked to Glynda in confusion.

"Professor Banjou wins the match with a ring out." Said Glynda. "I hope this demonstration is enough for you, we'll continue the rest of classes with randomly selected matches."

"No…!" Nora and Ruby lamented, having lost the bet.

"Yes!" I pumped my fist forwards.

"It was pretty clear cut, Yang may be tough but I don't expect to see her beat a teacher anytime soon." Said Pyrrha.

"So… I do believe you owe us some lien." I said, crossing my arms, a triumphant smirk on my face.

"Later." Ruby muttered.

"Our first combatant will be… Bryce Bridged. Would you step up to the arena floor please."

I sighed. "This isn't over yet." I said, walking up to the arena floor. "Now then… who's my opponent for today?"

"Our second combatant will be… Cardin Winchester." Said Glynda as a tall muscular man walked onstage, wielding what looked to be a mace of some sort.

I placed the Ziku Driver against my waist, before taking out the ZI-O and Cross-Z Ride Watches, twisting the dials on each and pressing the top buttons.

 _ **{ZI-O!}**_

 _ **{CROSS-Z!}**_

I slid both watches into their respective slots, before looking at Cardin with a smirk on my face. "No hard feelings!" I said, pushing down on the top button on my driver.

Cardin laughed to himself. "I'm not the one who'll be crying on the floor." He said, to which I raised an eyebrow.

"Ever heard the phrase counting your chickens before they hatch?" I asked.

"Begin!" Shouted Glynda, as I gripped the left slot of my driver and swung my arm to the right, giving the driver a full rotation.

 _ **[RIDER TIME!]**_

 _ **{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}**_

 _ **[ARMOUR TIME!]**_

 _ **{WAKE UP BURNING! CROSS-Z!}**_

I rolled my neck, the ZI-O Armour forming around me before the Cross Armour formed in front of me. I placed my hand against the Cross-Z armour as it split apart, latching onto my body as styled japanese characters for 'Cross-Z' formed on my visor.

I heard the muttered whispers from the crowd. I could only assume it was the armour and whether or not I was a Kamen Rider. It might also have something to do with the armour resembling the teacher who was just onstage, but who knows?

"Think that fancy armour will scare me?" Asked Cardin, resting his mace over his shoulder.

I lifted my left hand, blue fire engulfing it before I slammed it against my open palm, putting out the flame. "I dunno. You tell me?"

I rushed forwards, watching Cardin carefully as he responded in kind, picking up his mace as he swung it downwards at me. I sidestepped the attack, curling my fingers into a fist as I borrowed my fist into his stomach, sending him back a few steps. "That the best you got?" I asked, shaking my left hand.

"Lucky shot!" He shouted, charging once more. I raised my hand forwards, before smirking. As Cardin closed in, he swung once more for an overhead.

" _ **Edge of time!**_ " I shouted.

The mace swung down, as a loud 'clang' was heard as the connected with solid metal.

 _ **[ZIKAN GIRADE!]**_

 _ **[KEN!]**_

"Ooh, tough luck." I said, swinging my sword to the right, batting his mace to the side as I spun around, swinging my right foot up as I kicked him in the face.

I hit the floor, rolling into a stand as Card flipped to the right. He growled as he stood up. "That's it! You're dead!"

Cardin charged forwards, swinging his mace to the right. I brought up my sword to block as he started speeding up, almost like he was in a frenzy. I blocked an attack from the right before I felt the front of me armour get grabbed as Cardin Lifted me up and threw me to the other end of the arena.

"...Ow." I said, sitting up. I turned to Cardin. "While I do believe this has been eventful… This is about all the time I can spare." I pushed both buttons on the Ride Watches as I tossed my sword to my right.

 _ **{FINISH TIME!}**_

 _ **{CROSS-Z!}**_

"Ikuze…" I muttered, pushing down on the release button before grabbing the left slot of the driver with my right hand. I swung to the side, spinning the driver around for a full rotation.

 _ **{DRACONIC!}**_

 _ **{TIME BREAK!}**_

I crouched low, as blue flames licked the armour of my right foot. I watched Cardin's eyes widened, probably at the blue holographic dragon behind me. I smirked underneath my helmet, jumping up as I felt a blast of hot fire slam into my back, rocketing me towards Cardin.

"Seeya!" I shouted, swinging my right foot to the left as the fire that had collected on it launched off, slamming into Cardin's front, knocking him off his feet as he spun around in the air, landing on the ground with a thud.

I dropped to the ground, flicking my wrist at the job well done. "Cardin Winchester's Aura has dropped to the red. By tournament standards, Bryce Bridged wins the match."

"Good match." I said, taking both Ride Watches out of the driver as the armour dematerialized. I looked over to Banjou, as he was giving a thumbs up. I nodded to him, before walking back over to Team RWBY and JNPR. "Anyone bet on me?"

"Yang was going to, but no one else would." Said Ruby as I nodded.

Blake spoke up. "That armour of yours. It looks a lot like the Professor's."

"Well, that's because it kind of is." I answered, gaining the group's attention. "I can explain once the next match starts."

After the next two students were chosen and stepped up, I turned back to my friends. "Right, so yeah, it sort of is. The armour was actually the original form Banjou had, before it was upgraded to its new form."

"So how does that work? Power replication?" Asked Pyhrra.

I rubbed my chin. "Not exactly… How do I put this…" I looked to Ruby. "I'll take that lien now."

"Ugh, fine…" Ruby sighed, handing me 2, 10 lien cards. I picked one up and showed it to the group.

"Look at it this way. This is ZI-O's power, my power. This here, is also ZI-O's power." I said, picking up the other card. "Ride Watches work a bit differently from replication. Replication is a copy of the same power, not entirely the same." I placed the two lien cards side by side. "Ride Watches on the other hand, use the EXACT same power." I put both cards together, hiding one behind another. "However, two of the exact same power cannot exist at the same time." I placed one of the lien cards down. "So Ride Watches function by 'stealing' a Riders powers and using the power themselves."

"In simple terms, too much pink energy is dangerous, and so two of the same power cannot exist at the same time." I said, placing the lien in my pocket.

"So you steal rider powers?" Asked Blake.

"I don't plan on doing so, but that's how Ride Watches function." I said, taking out a blank one. "They mess with time, because to the world, once a Ride Watch steals a power, the kamen rider in question no longer exists. You yourself take on the mantle. In doing so, you alter time so YOU are that rider to the world."

"It's a terrifying power." I said, looking down. "Because I think that if I ever took a power from a rider… What would change? What might have been different if they weren't a rider? Would the monsters they've fought be revived to wreak havoc across Remnant? I don't know, and that scares me the most…"

"The too long didn't read version of it all, it's really confusion and convoluted." I said, looking up to see the match coming to a close. "Any other questions?"

"If that's the case, how'd you get the Cross-Z Ride Watch in the first place?" Asked Jaune.

"Sento gave it to me." I said, before noticing a few blank looks. "Oh yeah, we haven't had him for any classes yet… Yeah, he's one of the teacher's here, I think he's just finishing his planning for his course…"

"A teacher gave you that?" Asked Weiss. "Isn't that… favoritism?"

"Jealous it's not you or something?" I asked to which Weiss glared at me. "I'm joking. All it was is that we needed to utilize that kind of power to stop that monster that showed up on Beacon's grounds two days ago."

"Oh right, I heard about that." Said Yang, nodding.

"Another Rider…" I muttered, gripping my right hand.

"Oi Sento, we're in the middle of classes!" I heard Banjou to my left, as I turned to see Sento walk up to me.

"Bryce, I need you to come with me." Said Sento. I blinked, before standing up.

"Everyone, this is Sento Kiryu, Sento this is Teams RWBY and JNPR… Now what's going on?" I asked, turning to him.

"It's about the Another Rider." Said Sento as I felt a chill run down my back. "We haven't noticed any ill versed effects from the transformation, but there's another problem we have to deal with. I need you and Banjou with me."

"Professor Kiryu, we're currently busy with combat training. If you'd save this for another time…" Glynda said, crossing her arms.

"Oh right, sorry!" Sento said, placing his hands together as he bowed quickly, before he grabbed my hand. "I just need to borrow Mr. Bridged for a bit."

"Well, he had already participated for today… alright, you can go, but Professor Banjou is still busy with classes, his class in particular." Said Glynda.

"Oh, well that's fine. We'll get out of your hair now!" Said Sento, grabbing my arm and yanking me away from the arena.

"I'll see you guys later!" I shouted as I was pulled through the doors. I ripped my arm free of Sento's grasp as we started running down the hallway. "Why do you need me anyways?"

"We have no idea if the monster will emerge again, so we need to be careful." Said Sento. "Normally with things like Smash, you need to extract the essence, but I didn't see anything of the like, so I can only assume that we should be on standby."

"Fair assumption." I said, nodding as we reached the Doctor's office. I reached my hand out to open the door, gripping the handle as I pushed the door open.

"Oh, students?" Asked a man in a striking attire asked, as he looked up from the handheld he was playing. "Oh, Sento. What might you be doing here?"

"The doctor asked me to come, just in case the monster emerges again." Said Sento, motioning to me. "This is Bryce, he'll take care of things if it gets ugly."

I stared wide eyed at the man in front of me, a black coat opened all the way to the top with the exclusion of the top button, a blue shirt with pink sweater sleeves peeking out of the coat, and a pair of purple pants with a pixel design. There were strings of different colours left hanging at the front of his coat as I let my mouth drop a few inches.

"...Oh my god." I muttered.

"Oh right, where is he right now?" Asked Sento, looking at the man.

"He had to speak with Ozpin about our guest here…" Said Parado, motioning to the comatose patient, before the door opened behind us. "Speak of the devils."

"Well, this is certainly eventful." Said Ozpin, as I turned around, only for my mouth to drop more.

"...Is he okay?" Asked the doctor in front of me, looking at Ozpin.

I took a moment to compose myself, as a giant smile formed on my face. "You're Emu Hojo! CR Doctor and Pro Gamer under the title: Genius Gamer M!" I said, my smile widening.

Emu looked to Sento, who just laughed awkwardly. "He did the same to me when I first introduced myself. He's a fan."

"And that makes you Parado... or para-dx… or-Wow is your name confusing at times!" I said, turning to look at Parado.

"He certainly knows a lot." Said Emu.

"I'll explain later." Said Sento, before walking over to me. "You going to be okay?"

"Huh?" I blinked, before turning to Sento. "Oh uh… Yeah."

I rubbed the back of my neck as I moved out of the way so Ozpin and Emu could see the patient. Emu took off his stethoscope, holding it up to the patient as a holographic screen popped to life. As he scanned his patient, a strange warning popped up on the holographic screen.

"What's that?" I asked, leaning in.

"A strand of the Bugster Virus I've never seen before…" Said Emu, putting back on his stethoscope as he turned to Parado. "Let's begin."

"Got it!" Said Parado, as the two fist bumped. Parado suddenly burst into a mass of blue and red pixels as they quickly flew into Emu, his eyes lighting up as his hair suddenly flew up like a gust of wind had rolled through the room.

Emu took out his Driver, a green device with a pink lever on the front. I looked on in anticipation, watching as Emu placed the driver against his waist, the belt wrapping around him.

Emu took out a pink device, the 'Mighty Action X' Gashat, as he pressed his thumb onto the lever of the gashat, only to stop.

In fact… everyone had stopped. I felt my body suddenly grow heavy, as time itself seemed to slow to a halt around us. "Is this… Slowdown!?" I heard Sento ask in confusion.

Everything seemed to slow to a halt, as the room became quiet. "I can't move…" I muttered, barely able to move. "Hey guys…? You there?"

"It seems you're still able to move… I assumed as much." Said a feminine voice as I fought to turn my head to the left, seeing a girl in a lightish blue jacket. "Good, you'll hear my warning."

"T...Time Jacker!" I exclaimed, eyes widened as I tried to move my arm towards my ZI-O Ride Watch, to no avail.

"So you know about us. That's annoying…" Said the girl, looking back at the Patient. "I'm not done with him yet… but you already destroyed the last one, so I guess I'll have to use a new one…"

"Stop!" I shouted. "First, you have no idea how hard it is to even be able to talk, right now… Second, step away from him, now!"

"You're not my king, ZI-O, and you won't ever be." Said the girl. I grit my teeth. "We're trying to give rise to a new king, so stay out of the way, will you?"

"And if I don't?" I asked.

"Then I have good news and bad news." She said. "The good news is that you won't have to worry about your future, the bad news is you'll be destroyed where you stand."

"I'll take that bet then." I said. The time jacker rolled her eyes, as she took out a black Ride Watch.

"Oi, don't fail this time…" Said the girl, pushing down on the Ride Watch as I felt my heart drop a beat.

 _ **{BUILD!}**_

"NO!" I shouted, only for time to resume as the Time Jacker disappeared from sight. I dropped to my knees as I stared at the ground. "Oh god…"

"Bryce? What happened?" Asked Sento, as he helped me up. "What's going on?"

"The patient!" I said, standing up as I ran to his side. "Come on… please don't be what I think it is…"

"Ozpin, that was stopped time…" Emu said, as he turned to the teacher.

"Yes it was." Said Ozpin, as he looked back at me. "Bryce… are you alright."

"Son of a bitch!" I shouted, kicking over a nearby stool. "That goddamn Time Jacker!"

"It appears you've encountered the root of your current problem."

I snapped my head to the right, as a familiar prophet was sitting on the now upright stool. "Woz…" I said, looking at him.

"It appears they've started to make their move. It also appears you've had a run in with Ora." Said Woz, as I grit my teeth.

"So his name is Woz… I was wondering about the sudden third party in this year's initiation." Said Ozpin, walking up to me. "I see you two know each other."

"Long story." I answered.

"Hey guys, he's waking up!" Said Sento as I turned around to see the patient's eyes snap open, his left eye glowing red with his right glowing blue, as a burst of steam knocked us away as a figure hit the floor.

"No…" I muttered, watching as the patient's body rose from the ground, their body changed, monstrous in appearance. The Another Rider opened its mouth, as it let out a breath, before running out of the room at a breakneck pace.

"What was that!?" Asked Sento, as I charged after it. "Wait, Bryce!"

I ran outside of the school to the courtyard, as the Another Rider walked closer and closer to a pair of students. "Hey!" I shouted, as I took out my Cross-Z and ZI-O Ride Watches and activated them.

 _ **{CROSS-Z!}**_

 _ **{ZI-O!}**_

I slotted both of them into my driver, before slamming my fist onto the top of the Driver. I grabbed both sides of the driver with both of my hands, my right grabbing the left slot and my left hand grabbing the right slot, as I pulled my arms to the side, spinning the driver around like another time rider I knew of.

 _ **[RIDER TIME!]**_

 _ **{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}**_

 _ **[ARMOUR TIME!]**_

 _ **{WAKE UP BURNING! CROSS-Z!}**_

The armour quickly latched onto me as I watched the Another Rider turn around. The body was split into two sides, almost in a zigzag pattern, one half being blue while the other red. The body looked like it was comprised of rusted metal, while also being some sort of organic tissue. The face had two transclearent eyes, one red and the other blue, with a mouth with sharp teeth.

There was a single word plastered on the upper right side of it's chest. ' _BUILD_ '. I grit my teeth behind my helmet as the monster looked at me.

"AAAAGH!" I charged forwards, crying out as I punched the monster in the stomach, before kicking it to the side. I turned towards the students still there. "What are you waiting for!? Run!" I shouted, looking back as I ducked to the side of one of it's attacks before I threw a punch at it's stomach, sending it backwards.

I rolled my shoulders, extending my hand out. " _ **EDGE OF TIME!**_ " I shouted, the blade forming in my hand as I immediately charged the monster when I felt the weight of the sword land in my hand.

 _ **[ZIKAN GIRADE!]**_

 _ **[KEN!]**_

I swung horizontally, watching as the monster dodged left and right, before I was kicked back by the monster, it's left foot scraping against my chest with its tank treds.

I skidded to as stop, gritting my teeth. I pushed down on the charge button on my sword as I glared down at the Another Rider across from me.

 _ **[Time Charge! 5...4...3...2...1…ZERO TIME!]**_

"Shorya!" I let out a cry as I sprinted forwards, swinging my sword upwards across the Another Rider's chest.

 _ **[GIRI GIRI GIRI!]**_

My blade suddenly stopped, as an armoured hand gripped it's edge as the Another Rider leered at my visor, before I was punched in the gut and sent rolling back, my transformation deactivating.

I rolled over to stand up, as the clacking of something hitting the floor closed in.

"It seems you're having some trouble." Said Ozpin, walking up to me.

"Yeah… What gave it away." I said, standing up.

"I'll take it from here." Said Ozpin, stepping in front of me.

"Wait! The only way to defeat Another Riders are to use the same power as their own!" I said, as Ozpin looked to me.

"Then I'll do just that." He said, taking out the Decadriver, placing it on his waist as the Ride Booker appeared on his left hip. "Hold my cane would you?"

I was handed the cane as Ozpin opened the Booker, taking out a single card. "In situations like this, it's best to get straight to the point. _**Henshin!**_ " Ozpin shouted, flipping the card over to reveal the face of Build on the card, as he inserted the card into the Driver.

 _ **[KAMEN RIDE:]**_

I watched in awe as Ozpin gave a friendly smile, before placing both hands against either side of his driver, and pushed it close, swiping his hands over the front of the driver as he closed it.

 _ **[BUILD!}**_

Two two half bodies of Rabbit and Tank flew in from either side of Ozpin, as the familiar instrumental tune of the RabbitTank Henshin filled the air.

 _ **[BEST MATCH!]**_

D-Build dusted his hands off, as he looked towards the Another Rider. "This shouldn't take long." He said, taking out a card before inserting it into his driver and closing it.

 _ **[ATTACK RIDE: BLAST!]**_

D-Build took his Ride Booker off it's holder, transforming it into its gun form as he shot the Another Rider square in it's chest, multiple blasts following the initial strike, as if multiple guns had fired at once. Another Build staggered back, before it charged its opponent.

D-Build nodded, opening his Ride Booker and taking out another card. He opened his driver, inserting the new card before quickly closing it up.

 _ **[ATTACK RIDE: SLASH!]**_

His gun quickly turned into its sword form, as he slashed the Another Rider with the strength of three. D-Build ran forwards, jabbing at the creature's chest, before sweeping it's legs, tripping the Another Rider as it slammed into the floor.

D-Build took a few steps back as he placed his Ride Booker back on his waist, opening it up to draw a card. "And like that, we're at the end." Said D-Build, taking out another card. He quickly inserted the card before closing the driver up.

 _ **[FINAL ATTACK RIDE: B-B-B-BUILD!]**_

D-Build looked at me for a moment. "I'll be just a second." He said, before spinning into the ground. A second later he sprang up, as two charts form on the left and right side of the Another Rider leading to D-Build, as they slam together, holding the monster in place.

D-Build rides the line all the way to the Another Rider, his foot slamming into the monster as an explosion goes off and the human form of the Another Rider falls to the ground. I rushed over looking around for the Another Watch.

"It's not here…" I muttered. "...I just have to hope Ozpin really destroyed it."

I turned to look as Ozpin deactivated his transformation. "You are full of surprises aren't you?" I commented, standing up as Sento and Emu ran out towards us.

"Well, that's just how things are." Said Ozpin, as I turned to face Sento and Emu. "I trust the two of you can bring him back to the infirmary?"

"We'll get right on it." Said Emu, as Ozpin put his hand on my shoulder.

"Take the rest of the day off, you look tired." Said Ozpin, as I gave a sigh of acceptance.

"Yeah… I feel tired to…" I muttered, looking back. "But part of me feels like this isn't over."

* * *

"Morning Bryce." Said Ruby, as I sat down in the cafeteria, a plate of 3 pancakes alongside me.

"You look like shit." Said Yang, as Weiss rolled her eyes.

"As tactless as usual." Said Weiss, to which Yang roller her eyes.

"Well it's accurate. I didn't get a wink of sleep last night." I said, blinking. "Just got too much on my mind I guess…"

"Doesn't that teacher you mention start classes today? The one who dragged you out of class yesterday?" Asked Ruby, as I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm just not sure what he's teaching. But he's smart. He doesn't call himself the _Genius Physicist_ Sento Kiryu for nothing." I said. "He's the guy who developed the Rider System Banjou uses to transform into Cross-Z."

"Does that mean he could do the same for us?" Asked Yang, leaning in close.

"Yes and no. Yes, as in he could probably make another driver of some kind, but no as in there's no physical way he'd be able to do that." I said, as they all looked at me. "...Sento and Banjou were both exposed to a substance called Nebula Gas before, gaining a hazard level above three. That level allows them to transform with the build system."

"So all we'd need to do is get exposed to this Nebula Gas?" Asked Yang.

"There's a catch." Said Blake. "There's always a catch with those kinds of things."

"Anything below a Hazard Level 2.1 turns into a monster called a Smash. They can be defeated and have their essence extracted so it won't harm them… but then there's level 1." I began.

"If you have a Level one hazard level, you'll die a short while after becoming a smash." Said a voice, as I turned around to see Banjou, a look on his face I understood immediately. "Neither of us wanted to become Riders. But we fight today because that's the kind of person we'd like to be."

"Love and Peace, right?" I asked, as Banjou laughed.

"Right, well I was supposed to grab you for Sento… he wanted you help with something real quick." Said Banjou. "I'm still trying to figure out what I'm assisting him with in his class anyways…"

"If it has something to do with mixing dust he might try to rely on your 'Six Sense'." I said, air quoting 'Six Sense' as I stood up. "I'll catch up with you guys later, Nora you can-"

"Already on it!" She said, taking my plate of untouched pancakes and plopping them on her's.

"Right, well, the _genius_ wants to see me?" I asked, walking with Banjou out of the cafeteria.

"Yeah. I wasn't told why, but he's been acting weird since yesterday." Said Banjou. "He normally does maintenance on his driver every night but he didn't last night. He's been working on my Great Cross-Z Dragon as well, not sure why though…"

"...I don't like the answer my mind is giving me why." I said, as we reached their residence. "To the fridge!"

Banjou scanned his scroll over the door lock, as we walked inside the room. I reached the hidden passageway through the refrigerated, and opened the door, crouching to pass through to the stairs.

"Wanted to see me, Sento?" I asked, walking down the stairs.

"Yes, I need your help with something real quick." Said Sento, as Banjou followed after me. Sento scribbled on the whiteboard in front of him, notes and equations surrounded by a doodle of the Great Cross-Z Dragon with a giant red circle around it with a question mark. "Why is it that only Banjou's Great Cross-Z Dragon works in this world? My hazard level hasn't changed but I can't transform. The bottles still work, as judged by the full bottle buster. It's like with Banjou, none of his normal transformation devices work. But this dragon…!"

"Uh… You alright there Sento?" I asked, as the scientist turned to face me. "What do you mean you can't transform."

"Yeah, you've transformed loads of times since we arrived here." Said Banjou.

"What are you two talking about?" Asked Sento, as I blinked. "Banjou, you've been the only one capable of transforming, but all the math points to me ALSO being able to…"

"...It happened… It actually happened… Son of a BITCH!" I shouted kicking over a nearby chair.

"Woah! Watch the furniture!" Said Sento.

"...The patient, he's still in the infirmary right?" I asked, as Sento nodded. I ran out of the room as quickly as I could, running over to the doctor's office.

"What is that thing!?" I heard Yang ask, as my course instantly changed, as I ran towards the sound of her voice.

"Yang!" I shouted, running over to her to see the rest of Team RWBY minus blake. "Guys, get back!"

"Bryce! It got Blake!" Said Ruby, as I looked up to see the Another Build from earlier, an unpurified bottle in it's hands.

"...You bastard…" I muttered, slapping the driver against my waist. "You'll pay for this!"

 _ **[ZIKU DRIVER!]**_

I ripped the ZI-O Ride Watch off it's holder, twisting the dial to the left, before pressing the activation button.

 _ **{ZI-O!}**_

I slotted the watch into the driver, before slamming my fist onto the top of my driver, unlocking it. I pushed my hands forwads, before breaking them apart and gripping each side of the driver with my hands.

" _ **HENSHIN!**_ " I shouted, throwing my arms to the side, as I performed Geiz's henshin pose.

 _ **[RIDER TIME!]**_

 _ **{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}**_

"At this moment in time… You're dead!" I shouted, charging forwards. The Another Rider leaned to the side, as he kicked my chest pushing me to the side.

"Bryce!" Ruby shouted.

"Give her back!" Shouted Yang, cocking her guantlets as she charged forwards.

"No… Don't!" I shouted, as Sento and Banjou ran onto the scene.

"What the hell!?" Banjou exclaimed looking at Another Build.

The Another Rider held up it's hand, grabbing Yang's fist in it's, as the blonde struggled against the monster, firing shot after shot into it's stomach with no avail. Another Build raised another empty fullbottle, and in a matter of seconds, Yang was sucked inside.

" _Ninja… Brawler… BEST MATCH!"_ The monster cheered, as I pushed myself off of the ground and ran over to Ruby and Weiss.

"Yang…" Ruby muttered.

"Ruby. Ruby listen to me. We can still save them, but you two need to get out of her, now." I said, as Ruby stood up.

"Here he comes!" Shouted Weiss as the Another Rider walked towards us.

"Oi! What do you think you're doing!?" Asked Banjou as he stood in front of us.

"Banjou!" I exclaimed. "You won't be able to harm it!"

"Yeah, but I can buy you guys some time!" He said, raising his hand up as the Great Cross-Z Dragon flew into his hand, probably having knocked over some of Sento's things on it's way here. Banjou placed the Dragon Evol-Bottle into the slot, before pressing the button on the front.

 _ **[KAKUSEI!]**_

Banjou slammed the Dragon into his driver, as he started to crank the lever.

 _ **[GREAT CROSS-Z DRAGON!]**_

 _ **[ARE YOUR READY!?]**_

" _ **HENSHIN!**_ " Shouted Banjou, as the snap rider builder formed around him and slammed together, his armour forming around him.

 _ **[WAKE UP CROSS-Z! GET GREAT DRAGON! YEAH!]**_

Banjou rolled his shoulders as the Another Rider in front of him stopped for a second.

".. _.Cross-Z… Build…. BEST MATCH!_ " It shouted, throwing it's arms out, as it ran at the Rider, only to be kicked out.

"What the hell!?" Banjou asked.

"I feel oddly jealous." Said Sento, running up the three of us. "We need to get you three out of here."

"Wait, you can't beat him!" I said, standing up. "Only the exact same power can truly destroy the Another Rider… Which explains why Decade couldn't, it's replication not the same…"

"Then what do we do?" Asked Ruby as I looked over to see Banjou get knocked to the side.

"...What is that thing?" Sento asked, as I looked at him. "It looks like Build, albeit… monstrous."

"That… is Another Build." I said, walking over to him.

"Another way to put it would be to say HE is Kamen Rider Build." Said a voice as we turned to see Woz, looking down at his book. "The Time Jackers have altered History… right now to this world, that is Kamen Rider Build."

"...That isn't Build. Build isn't a monster that attacks the innocents… Build is the hero… we created," I watched Sento's hand close tight as he started to shake. "He's a symbol of peace, he fights to protect not destroy!"

"...Sento." I began, placing a hand on his shoulder as he looked to me.

"Argh!" Banjou let out a cry, as he mercilessly tossed to the side. He rolled to a stop as the Another Rider walked closer to us. In a moment, he sprinted forwards, towards Ruby and Weiss.

"Ruby, get out of the way!" Weiss shouted, pushing her leader out of the line of fire as the Another Rider grabbed her instead. "Get your hands off of me…!"

Another Build pulled out another empty fullbottle, before Weiss was absorbed in a matter of seconds.

"Weiss… No…" Ruby muttered as I grit my teeth. I reach into my pocket and took out a blank Ride Watch, before I looked at Sento.

"...Sento." I began, as he looked back to me. "That thing is Build. Every moment, of every second it exists, it'll be known as Kamen Rider Build. And I hate that."

"That thing, isn't Kamen Rider Build. Kamen Rider Build was the symbol of hope for the people of Seito, Hokuto and Touto. He was the Rider created by You, Banjou, Katsumi, and Gentoku." I continued, as I clenched my fist around the Ride Watch. "...He was my hero."

"I don't know… if this'll sound selfish, but it's the only way. Please…" I began, handing Sento the blank Ride Watch. "Give me the power of Build… let me inherit, the Build you four created."

Sento took the watch out of my hands, looking down at the reflecting face of the watch. I saw his eyes, they were running wild with indescribable emotions, before he looked up at me, and nodded.

The Ride Watch suddenly lit up, as a holographic analog clock formed above the face of the watch as a second later, the Watch activated, a red and blue ridewatch sitting in place where the first one once was.

I picked up the Ride Watch, looking back at Sento as I nodded, walking over to Ruby as I took out my phone.

"Ruby, get behind me." I said, as the hooded girl nodded. I looked down at my phone, scrolling through a list before I found what I was looking for, and hit play.

 **(Play: Be the one - PANDORA Ft. Beverly [Full Size])**

I put my phone away as the song began, attention drawn off of me as everyone looked above. I let out a sigh as I looked down at the Ride Watch in my hand. I smiled, looking back up.

"Huh… music?" Asked Ruby.

"Where is that coming from?" Asked Sento.

"Oi!" I shouted, as Another Build looked at me. "You got some nerve, going around calling yourself Build. Well guess what? I won't allow this to go on any longer. The hero known as build, will be remembered as such!"

 _ **(Kono mama aruki tsuzuketeiru)**_

I took out the Build Ride Watch, twisting the dial and pushing down on the activation button.

 _ **{BUILD!}**_

 _ **(Kon'ya mo maasugu Hitori no ashiato tadotte…)**_

I slotted the Ride Watch into the left slot of the driver as I walked forwards towards the Another Rider in front of me.

"You go around causing chaos, taking away our friends, our family, and for what? You probably don't even know!" I said, taking the ZI-O Ride Watch out of the Right slot and pressed down on the activation button again.

 _ **(Hateshinai, dakedo kimi dake wa)**_

 _ **{ZI-O!}**_

"Which makes you all the more dangerous." I said, taking my final step forwards. "I can't let you continue doing what you're doing, so this is how things are going end, right now."

 _ **(Dokoka de matteru Egao tayasazuni)**_

"This ends now." I said, slotting the ZI-O Ride Watch into the driver, before pressing down on the release button, the driver tilting to the right. The holographic clock formed behind me as I extended my left hand outwards, before bringing it back as I got into the same stance Sento would when he'd transform.

 _ **(There you will…)**_

" _ **Are you ready!?**_ " I blinked, looking to the left to see Sento with his hands on either side of his face, yelling that question out to me. I let a smirk form on my face as I looked at the Another Rider, before I answered.

 _ **(Be The One, Be The One All right! Ashita no chikyū o nagedasenai kara)**_

" _ **HENSHIN!**_ " I announced, crossing my arms over my chest in an X pattern before swinging my arms down to my sides, my right hand brushing against the right slot of the driver as I knocked it into a full rotation.

 _ **(Be The Lights, Be The Lights! All right! )**_

 _ **[RIDER TIME!]**_

 _ **{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}**_

 _ **[ARMOUR TIME!]**_

 _ **(Tsuyoku nareru yo Ai wa makenai! Nanika wo tasukete sukutte dakishime)**_

The build armour formed in front of me, as I placed my hand against it, as the armour split apart, half going in front of me, while the other half flying behind me. I smirked, throwing my arms to the side as the armour rushed me from both sides, mimicking the Snap Ride Builder as it closed around me finishing the transformation.

 _ **(Kokoro ni fureruyo todoku yo, tsutaware, Be The One, Be The Lights)**_

 _ **{BEST MATCH! BUILD!}**_

The japanese characters for Build slammed into my Visor, as I reached out and grabbed the rider weapon with my left hand. I twirled my right hand around, sliding it across one of the antenie of the suit in a two finger salute.

 _ **(Message, Okoru yo hibiku yo!)**_

"I've found…" I began, closing my middle and ring finger while opening my pinkie and index. I quickly proceeded to open the whole hand in a 'pop' motion. "The winning formula!"

"REJOICE!" Woz stated, walking up next to me with his book open. "He is the heir to the power of all riders. The ruler of time, travelling beyond time and space to reign over past and future…"

"His name is Kamen Rider ZI-O: Build Armour, and in this moment he has received the power of another Rider." Woz said, motioning to me.

I grabbed the handle of the rider weapon, a drill that covered my entire hand and pointed forwards, before I sprinted towards the Another Rider, sliding down as I swung at it's left leg, the drill spinning rapidly as it scrapped against the metal leg.

The Another Rider stumbled as he turned around to face, me taking out two unpurified bottles. He stood up, before opening his freakish mouth and swallowing them, the red and blue bottles on his freakish driver changing to purple and yellow.

 _ **{NINJA!}**_

 _ **{BOXER!}**_

 _ **{BEST MATCH!}**_

"Yang!" Ruby shouted, as I grit my teeth. I stood up, only to have the Another Rider suddenly appear in front of me. I swung forwards with my weapon, only for it to jump back, leaving an afterimage to take the blow, before I was punched hard in the chest by the real one.

I stumbled back. "Man that's going to be annoying to deal with… I need another person to keep his attention of me so I can finish him..." I muttered, looking to my left to see Banjou stumbling up, still in his transformation.

"...Banjou!" I shouted, gaining his attention. " _ **Edge of Time!**_ "

 _ **[ZIKAN GIRADE!]**_

 _ **[KEN!]**_

"Take this!" I shouted, placing the Cross-Z Ride Watch into the slot on the sword, before I hurled the weapon at the other Rider.

 _ **[FINISH TIME!]**_

"Thank you!" Banjou shouted back, standing up as blue fire formed on the sword. "I get the feeling I can't lose!"

"Keep it's attention, unless I finish it with an attack of my own, it'll just respawn over and over." I said, as Banjou nodded. I rolled my neck, pushing down on the button on my ZI-O Ride Watch. "Good heavens, would you look at the time?"

 _ **{FINISH TIME!}**_

"I do believe it's time your finale experiment." I smirked, pushing down on the Build Ride Watch.

 _ **{BUILD!}**_

I mimicked the cranking of the Build driver with my right hand, as floating equations flew past me, although there were one or two saying something like: An equation from the show I forgot.

"I don't know whether to be flattered, or annoyed." Said Sento.

"Now Banjou!" I shouted, pushing down on the driver's release button as I gripped the right slot of my driver with my left hand and pulled back, giving the Driver a full rotation.

"Let's go!" Banjou shouted, charging forwards as he pulled the trigger on his weapon, the blue fire engulfing the edge of the sword.

 _ **{CROSS-Z}**_

 _ **[GIRI GIRI SLASH!]**_

I pushed my left foot onto the ground suddenly spinning around as I fell into the ground. I had to hope here. I jumped up, two familiar graphs forming on either side of me, as I waited for Banjou to knock the Another Rider into place.

Banjou's sword slammed into it's side, slamming it right into the middle of the two graphs. "Now!" I shouted, as the two graphs slammed together, allowing me to trap the Another Rider in place.

 _ **{VORTECH!}**_

 _ **{TIME BREAK!}**_

I slid down the slide formed by the graphs, as I swung forwards, with my rider drill, the weapon spinning round and round before my weapon slammed into the Another Rider, as time seemed to slow around us for a moment as the monster looked up at me.

"...This is for everyone." I said, breaking through as I sped past coming to a stop as the monster exploded behind me.

 **(Stop Music)**

I stood up, turning around to see the unconscious body of the patient lying on the ground. Next to him were three unpurified bottles, and the Another Build Ride Watch. I walked over to the Watch, before it exploded in place. I sighed, taking out both of my Ride Watches as my transformation ended.

"There… still stuck as bottles…" Muttered Ruby, walking up to them.

I let out a breath, before picking up the three unpurified bottles. I snapped the cap into the open position for the one with the white inside, as white particles flew out, Weiss soon emerging passed out on the ground.

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted, running over to her teammate as I let out a sigh of relief.

"Good, so that's how it works." I muttered, taking the other two full bottles and opening them as well, as yellow and blake particles flew out and Yang and Blake emerged, also passed out.

"It appears you have emerged victorious, and have gained the support of the Knights of RWBY." Said Woz, walking up next to me.

"The… Knights of RWBY?" I asked, as Woz turned to me with a smile.

"They are your most trusted allies. Think of them as your… personal guard." Said Woz. "Aside from yourself, they have the highest standing in the future."

"...Wait, was that what that whole Lady Rose thing was about!?" I asked, as Woz just looked to the side with a smirk.

"Why yes, what else would I have been referring to?" He asked, as I felt my eye twitch.

"You cheeky dick waffle…" I said, as Woz turned around.

"I must be off. There are things I must attend to." Said Woz, as I felt something slam into my right side, pushing me off the ground, when I looked to my left, Woz was gone.

"THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" Ruby said, hugging me for all it was worth.

"RUBY…. CAN'T… BREATH!" I gasped out as the girl let me go. "Oh thank god…"

"You alright?" Asked Sento, walking up to me with a now untransformed Banjou.

"I'll live." I said, standing up. "Shame you can't transform anymore though."

"Yeah, he was all like, WOOH ATCA! _GENIUS PHYSICIST!_ " Ruby said, mimicking Sento's moves from the fight with Another Cross-Z.

"Wait, you remember that!?" Asked Banjou as I blinked. "I thought only me and Bryce did!"

"Bryce and I." Sento corrected the boxer, as Banjou gave him a look.

"...It could be… You remember because of the Evol DNA…" I said, pointing to Banjou. "Not exactly sure how that works… But as for Ruby…?"

"Did anyone else seem to know Sento was a Kamen Rider? Or was at least able to Transform?" I asked Banjou.

"No. No one. Well, Ozpin seemed to know, but he didn't make mention of it…" Said Banjou.

I looked back at Ruby, as only one possibility came to mind. "...She couldn't be… Could she?" I asked myself.

"Could be what?" Asked Ruby.

"...Does the term… Singularity Point mean anything to any of you?" I asked, as they looked to me. "Singularity Points are being who exist out of time, and are unaffected by any changes to time. Kamen Rider Den-O is literally the textbook definition of one."

"So does that mean you're one to?" Asked Sento, as I blinked. "It would make sense, you remember the events like Banjou and Ruby."

"I'm not fully sure. It could also because I have immunity because I'm from another world, which could also be the case for you and Banjou, but that COULD be true…"

"But if that's true for me, why wouldn't I remember being able to transform like you said." Asked Sento.

"I can only assume it had something to do with your SPECIFIC timeline." I said. "Though I'm not fully sure. Right now my best guess is we're all singularity points except for Sento."

"Well don't I feel special." Sento said, looking to the side.

"Ah, Bryce. I heard there was a commotion and came to see if there was anything I could do to help, but I see you handled things quite nicely." Said Ozpin, walking up behind me.

"And pray tell, where were you earlier today?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"I had a meeting to attend to." He said, taking a sip from his coffee as I swear he smirked behind it.

"Onore Decado…" I muttered, gripping my right hand as I glared at the man in front of me.

"With all that said, we've decided to give the students tomorrow off to get their bearings after this monster attack. We're also increasing our security, we've hired on a new guard for now so I'd like to introduce him to you all." Said Ozpin. "You can come out now."

A man in a black business suit and a red tie walked out, on his waist was what looked like a stylized car dashboard, and on his left wrist was a gear shifter, without the handle.

"My name is Shinnosuke Tomari." Said the man. "I'm being transferred from my police precinct to work security here."

"Security for a school designed to train people to beat other things up?" I raised an eyebrow. "Not that I'm complaining mind you, but still."

"He's also here to be your new instructure, seeing as for the time being, Professor Kiryu is unable to do so." Said Ozpin, another smile on his face.

"OH! I see." I said, nodding as I extended a hand to Shinnosuke. "My name is Bryce Bridged. Kamen Rider ZI-O."

"Shinnosuke Tomari. Kamen Rider Drive." Said Shinnosuke, before he motioned towards his belt. "And this is Belt-san."

"...Uh…" Banjou staired in confusion, before the front lit up to show Belt-san's face.

"It's nice to meet all of you." Said the Belt, as Banjou jumped back.

"The belt can talk!?" He exclaimed, as Sento eyes literally lit up.

"Amazing… It's like a highly intelligent AI… Who programmed him? I'd love to discuss something like that!" Sento asked, leaning towards the belt before looking back up at Shinnosuke.

"Actually… The belt made… itself?" I said in confusion as they all turned to me. "He transported his mind into the belt as a last ditch effort."

"How does he…" Belt-san asked in confusion.

"Get used to it, he seems to know a lot about us." Said Banjou.

"Anyways, Shinnosuke, it's nice to meet you again, the same to you, Krim Steinbelt." I said, looking from the officer to the belt. "But I do believe we need to get the rest of our team back to the infirmary, along with this guy."

"Our team?" Asked Ruby.

"What? I'm technically on your team for the time being. Did you forget that?" I asked, as Ruby rubbed the back of her neck. "Anyways, someone mind helping us out?"

"Got it!" Sento said, as Banjou and him started to lift up the patient.

"I'll send for the doctor to help bring them to the infirmary, for the time being, I'd recommend you two get some rest, classes are cancelled for the day after all." Said Ozpin as I nodded, as Ruby and I walked off.

"...You know… You want to take a look at my world?" I asked Ruby, as she looked to me. "I mean, it won't be the country I'm from, but it'll still be the same setting, roughly."

"I'm basically asking if you want to watch Kamen Rider Build with me." I said, as Ruby looked at me. "I said I could show you sometime, why not start now? Classes are over and we should be able to binge the whole thing this weekend."

"Can we!? Yes!" Ruby cheered, as I laughed, taking out my phone.

"Now… How the hell do I transfer MP3 files over to something that can actually play them…" I muttered as we made our way back to Ruby's Dorm.

* * *

 _"Thank you for agreeing to join me today." Said Ozpin, sitting in his office, a cup of coffee in his hand as he looked at a photo in his left hand. He looked up at Woz, who was sitting opposite from him with a book in his hand. "I wanted to ask you a few questions."_

 _"It would be my pleasure. You were a great teacher for my Overlord, and if I could supply any information that'd make his learning as best it can be, I'll do as such." Said Woz._

 _"Then that brings me to today. In the coming semester, there will be team missions. Now, Bryce is technically apart of Team RWBY, but it's a temporary team until he can find his own teammates and start his own team." Said Ozpin, as Woz nodded._

 _"Yes, though the team name might have some trouble." Said Woz. "None of their would be names line up to make a colour, so you end up marking them as Team ZI-O if this book is to be believed._

 _Woz closed his book, looking back at Ozpin. "Which brings me to today. You've been coming and going on and off campus for the past week. Now, this is a problem for our security, we'd rather not have someone who can go wherever he wants with not idea on how he operates and what party they work with." Said Ozpin, taking a sip of his coffee. "So I'd like to ask you this. Will you join Bryce's team? I'm, sure that with your level of expertise and knowledge, he will become a great hunter."_

 _"Would I be required to attend classes?" Asked Woz. "As you said, I'm am fairly knowledgeable already, so I don't know what you could teach me that I wouldn't know."_

 _"Of course. If you were to join his team, we'd have you placed in a position that would not require you attend classes. Most likely along the lines of student tutoring or something. I'll work something out." Said Ozpin, nodding to himself. "Glynda won't be too pleased but she isn't normally with a lot of my decisions..."_

 _"Then I believe we have a deal."_ _Said Woz, standing up to shake Ozpin's hand. "I'll show myself out."_

 _Woz walked over to the elevator, pressing the button for the ground floor as the door closed behind him. "It is a strange thing, experiencing a place that will become a graveyard eventually."_


	8. Chapter 4-5: A Lazy Day

**(Author's Note)**

 **Hey guys! 0n3dgeGaming here, and welcome back to another -5 chapter! So this one is rather short, not really much inbetween chapters 4 and 5, but enough I could piece this thing together.**

 **THERE'S A ZI-O WORLD OPTION NOW! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW ECSTATIC I AM RIGHT NOW!**

 **Onto Reviews!**

 **To Christopher Rodd: Maybe, we'll have to see how that turns out.**

 **To TheOkWriter: Well, that's a shame. Hope you find something else to catch your attention!**

 **To DragonKnight SR: I'm not too sure yet. Cross-Z's felt like the only exception, so for now I'll have to say negative, but theres a VERY low possibility I change my mind.**

 **To Taiman215: That… Will eventually happen. And oh boy that'll be a fun -5 chapter to write…**

 **To LoamyCoffee: I'm… not sure what you're agreeing with. And he'll probably get a pairing, don't think Penny is on the table though.**

 **To TheTwoMind: Yes, Troll Woz is best Woz. There will be much trolling to come in the -5 chapters, much like the inevitability that someon will try to take his book, that'll be fun to write out...**

 **To Kamen Rider J: Spoilers~**

 **To ZI-O & GEIZ: Those are fair points. As I said earlier, catchphrases will probably be changed up as the story progresses. And yeah, in hindsight it does feel a little crack fic-y.**

 **To Hakuryukou79: Time is physically altered when an Another Rider is created, so the reason why Sento Remembers, is because to the timeline of REMNANT, Build was the Another Build, but to EARTH, he was still Build, so all of his memories would still be fine from when he was on EARTH. Other riders WILL forget. Time travel will EVENTUALLY come into play, just not yet.**

 **To Shogun lord poke burst: I will not be making up 'new' riders.**

 **To Cross-Z Magma: I did actually upload it on the 19th, and thank you.**

 **I got myself a CSM Decadriver coming in the mail now and I felt the need to share that for some reason. That is all.**

 **Disclaimer: Ye**

* * *

"My lord… My lord… Sire, you need to awaken… Don't make me use force, Liege. Very well, you have been warned."

It was early morning, that much was aware to me as I slept. It was a peaceful sleep, something much needed after the hassle that was yesterday.

Shame it ended the way it did.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed, suddenly finding myself floating in the air as I dropped onto the hard floor. I groaned, rolling to the side to see my bed hanging upside down in the air. I looked to the left to see Woz with his hand in the air with a smile on his face.

"You're awake, good." Woz said. "I apologize for the rude awakening, but you had given me permission to wake you up if you were sleeping in by any means necessary. This is normally the best option."

"I did? When the hell did I do that?" I asked, standing up.

"In the future." Said Woz as I felt my eye twitch. "Well, your clothes are in the bathroom, I'd recommend getting ready, you do have plans today."

"Right…" I muttered, walking towards the bathroom as Woz placed the bed back down. "...Why the hell are you in my dorm room again?"

"From this moment forward I will be acting as your partner here at Beacon." Said Woz, bowing a bit. "While I won't be participating in classes, combat classes excluded, I will still be acting as your teammate in everything else."

"...Ozpin set this up didn't he?" I asked, as Woz gave me an affirmative nod. "Onore Decado…"

I sighed, opening the bathroom door before I closed the door behind me. "Alright… Said I'd watch Build with Ruby today… Well, Woz IS here so I could probably ask if he had anything I could use to display the video files…"

I took off my sleepwear, before I stepped into the shower. "I'll just… worry about that later."

* * *

I slipped on the shirt Woz had set out for me as I walked out of the bathroom, teeth brushed and clean shaven. I patted down the front of the shirt, a symbol embroidered onto the front. It resembles the letters 'nXu'. This was the word 'Kamen' in stylized japanese characters, which kind seeing as their three different writing styles? I wouldn't have the faintest clue. The symbol was surrounded by a circle of ticks, twelve in total that mimicked the hour tick on a clock.

"When did I get this in?" I asked, myself.

"I had it custom made for you once classes started." Said Woz, nodding to himself. "I see the overall design works well."

"Well, I won't say no to a good T-Shirt." I nodded to myself, picking up my black coat as I slipped it on. "Right, well I'll be off in the cafeteria. You can do… whatever it is you normally do…"

Woz gave a pleasant nod as I walked out of the room, closing the dormroom door behind me. I let out a yawn, turning to the right to walk down the hallway before the door to the dorm next to mine opened up suddenly, causing me to slam into it.

I grunted as I tumbled onto my back, the door slowly closing as Weiss looked down at my prone figure.

"Bryce? Would you care to explain why you're on the floor." Asked Weiss, as the rest of Team RWBY stepped out of their dorm.

"Aside from the fact it's surprisingly comfortable?" I asked, standing up as I dusted my casual clothes off. "Someone opened a door into my face."

"Hm? Oh!" Weiss blinked in realization. "I apologize for that…"

"No problem." I said, looking over Team RWBY. They weren't wearing their beacon uniforms, but they were wearing their combat attire. "You guys heading to the caf?"

"Yep!" Said Ruby as I nodded, falling in line with the four of them as we walked down.

I felt a sudden sharp pain around my head, as I groaned, clutching the side of my head.

"You alright?" Asked Blake.

"Yeah, just a headache, might be from the door." I said, as it slowly died down.

"So did anyone hear about what happened last night?" Asked Yang, as I raised an eyebrow. "Apparently some weird orange blob monster was at beacon."

"Orange… blob monster?" I asked, crossing my arms, a look of thought forming on my face.

"I heard about that. It was like it just popped into existence." Said Weiss.

"...It could be that…" I said, nodding to myself.

"That?" Asked Yang. "You're not going to start playing the pronoun game again, are you?"

"What? Oh, right. I was saying it could have been a Bugster." I said.

"Bugster?" Asked Blake.

"I've heard of that. It's a virus that was discovered a little over two years ago in vale." Said Weiss. "There a special sector of a hospital in Vale that specializes in the virus, called CR. They employ only the best and most specialized to face the virus. They take their job very seriously."

I let out a snort as Emu, Poppy, Parado, and _SHIN DAN KURUTO!_ appeared in my mind. The best? Yes. Specialized? Sure. Serious? Eh... Not so much in a few cases...

"As Weiss said." I said, holding back my mirth. "However, the only way to operate on a patient to remove the virus is through a specialized Rider System. That's where the Game Riders come in."

"Game Riders?" Asked Blake as I nodded.

"Doctors who use video games to transform into Kamen Riders. There's Kamen Rider Brave, Snipe, Lazer and then there's Ex-aid." I said, listing off the names of the main four riders.

"Ex-aid?" Asked Ruby.

"Probably stands for Extreme Aid." Said Blake.

"So if it WAS a bugster, there really shouldn't be much to worry about." I said, as we reached the cafeteria. "Now then, food."

* * *

"Morning guys." I said to Team JNPR, as I sat down, placing my tray on the table. "Anything interesting happen lately?"

"Not really." Said Jaune, stabbing a piece of sausage with his fork.

"You're the one who's had the most interesting things happen to. Leave some for the rest of us!" Said Nora, pointing at me in what I assume was good nature.

"I would if I could." I said, looking to the left only to suddenly jump to the side. "Holy shit!"

"When did he get here?" Asked Pyrrha as Woz brought what a coffee mug up to his lips, the liquid inside unknown.

"How did you do that? Can you teach me!?" Nora asked, leaning up to the prophet, who simply put his mug down and smiled.

"No." He said.

"Right, Woz." I muttered, sitting back up straight as the headache returned stronger. "Damn this is annoying…" I looked to my right as Team RWBY finally joined up with us. "Okay, so I got an announcement to make."

"This have something to do with mister mysterious over here?" Asked Yang.

"Allow me to introduce you all to my partner, Woz." I said, jutting my left thumb out to the prophet, who just took another sip from his cup. "It's all Decade's fault."

"Decade?" Asked Blake in confusion.

"Nevermind…"

"At least you aren't barred from teammate combat training." Said Weiss, as I let out a sigh. Yeah, that was true, but how much weight was Woz gonna pull during said training. It wasn't like HE had anything to learn from them, at least, I'm pretty sure that's how it is.

"So he's your partner now?" Asked Ruby. "So that means you're on your way to making your team!"

"Yeah… Team… BW… Why do I feel like the team name is going to die horribly once we start trying to put it together?" I asked aloud. "You know the future Woz, how exactly does our…"

I looked to my left, finding the seat empty. "...Did… ANYONE see him leave?"

"...Nope." Yang said plainly.

"Ah."

I sighed, poking my waffle with my fork as two people sat down at our table. I looked up, finding our entire table looking at Sento and Banjou all confused.

"...Hi guys… what are you doing here?" I asked in confusion.

"We figured we'd spend some time to get to know our fellow Rider." Said Sento, nodding as he picked up a fork.

"We have no idea where the teacher's lounge is." Banjou said, as I nodded. Sento gave a look to his partner before he turned back to us.

"Right! Bryce, I wanted to ask if I could take a look at the Build Ride Watch." Said Sento, as I raised an eyebrow.

"The Ride Watch? What for?"

"I want to see if there's anyway that I could reverse engineer it." Said Sento, the rest of the table looking over to him. "I haven't been able to transform since we defeated Evol, so if I could somehow utilize that Ride Watch, then I might be able to be of some more help."

"And considering it's your power in it anyways… I don't see what the problem is. Though I'll have to get that too you later." I said.

"How so?" Asked Sento.

"I have plans with Ruby today. I… Oh yeah, that's kind of awkward explaining to the two of you now." I said, as I looked to the side before leaning close. "So… We're gonna binge Kamen Rider Build."

"...How do you… binge a kamen rider?" Asked Banjou in confusion, also in a whisper.

"No I mean… the show?" I said, keeping my voice. "The one from my world."

"Oh!" Sento said, nodding as I leaned back. "...Would you two mind if we joined you?"

"Eh?" I asked in confusion.

"What are you four talking about?" Asked Yang, as the others looked at us.

"Well, Ruby and I were about to watch a show, and we apparently caught the attention of these two…" I said. "Speaking of, I should probably get my dorm situated."

I felt a hand land on my shoulder as I turned to look at Yang. "No funny business, I will find out otherwise." I heard Yang whisper, a smile on her face that was way too sweet for the current situation.

"Ye of so little faith." I said, tilting my head to the side, walking out of the caf. "Now, where's Woz…"

* * *

"Woz?" I asked, opening the door to my room, only to find one of those holographic televisions Remnant had hooked up to what looked like a stand for my phone. "Huh…?"

I walked closer, picking up a note as I cleared my throat. "I have already taken care of everything, just place your phone on the stand and you can begin… Huh, thank I guess…" I muttered, placing the note to the side as I placed my phone on the stand, the tv popping up with a playlist with all of the Build Episodes quickly loaded up. "Okay, that is freaky."

A knock on my door grabbed my attention as I walked over and opened it, as Ruby, Sento and Banjou stood outside. "Come in, grab a seat, all should be good to start." I said, motioning them inside, closing the door as the headache popped back up again. "This is getting annoying…"

I walked over to the chairs as my vision started to get fuzzy. "Uh, Bryce, you okay man?" I heard Banjou ask me.

"Yeah… I feel… Gh-!?" My legs suddenly collapsed underneath me as I fell to the floor, the headache seemingly exploding, as I cried out in agony.

"Bryce!" Ruby shouted, running over to me as I felt her arms grab my shoulders. "Is he okay? What's happening?"

"I don't know…" Sento said, looking over me. I groaned, a cold chill running up my spine. "Is that… Banjou, we need to get him over to the doctor, NOW!"

I looked back at Ruby once more, before my vision faded to black.


	9. Chapter 5: Viral Gaming

**(Author's Note)**

 **Before I start ANYTHING, I want to quickly give a massively huge apology.**

 **As of writing, which is the day I finally finished this chapter, it's May 3rd, 2019. The last update was Nov 2nd if I remember correctly. I have a million and a half excuses as to why this was so late, but I'll narrow them down and get them out of the way real quick.**

 **1\. I'm currently going through both grade 13/Victory Lap of high school, as well as the piles of work I'm getting dropped into at my job.**

 **2\. I wanted to take a bit to let the show expand out a bit, flesh out some of the things I'd like to know about the story, and figure out how to fix a few things. Just being able to skim info off the wiki about some of the events of the movie was enough for questions I had about Singularity Points.**

 **3\. I had been putting a lot of work into finishing another story I was working on. It's done, aside from a possible OVA chapter I might do, but I wanted to finish that story up before picking this one back up.**

 **With that said, let's move on.**

 **There are a few things that people might raise an eyebrow or two at, but I ask that you work with me on these. I do realize that the thing that happens later isn't really how it works, but it is my story and I can muddle up a few things on how mechanics work, especially since Zi-O already has a decent amount of cluster to wade through in regards to it's mechanics.**

 **With that out of the way, onto Reviews!**

 **To Guest: While the idea of crossing over with other authors for this story has crossed my mind briefly... I already have plans that I feel would not mesh well with a straight crossover dropping into the story.**

 **To** **Hakuryukou79: For the matter of Another Riders and memory remembering, it'll be as temporary as the show has it.**

 **To Taiman215: Oh don't worry, I have big plans for Decade, trust me. With the time that had passed, newer ideas for said rider have... changed let's say.**

 **And with all of that, ONTO THE STORY!**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing. All I own are the words being furiously typed on this keyboard in hopes of finally finishing this chapter after 4-5 months.**

* * *

"So this is Signal?" I asked, whistling as I walked onto the campus of the huntsmen academy. I normally would stay back at the house at patch, but Yang had brought up actual hand to hand training in the arena they had at Signal, so I decided I might make a day of it. "Not half bad."

"Yeah, it's pretty cool." Said Yang with a nod. "Though I hear Beacon is much bigger."

"This is essentially comparing a high school to a college or university so I'm not surprised by that," I responded, rolling my shoulders as I yawned. "Also, why is there almost no one here right now?"

"Technically it's a day off, but Dad still has to come in for work reasons. He gave us permission to use the arena when he was finished up with his work so he could supervise." Said Yang, as I gave a nod of understanding.

Ruby was off somewhere in town with her friends from Signal right now, never got their names now that I think of it, so it was just Yang and I for the day. I took in a breath of air. It was weird, really. It's been seven days since I arrived on Remnant and by now I had gotten used to the Xiao Long/Rose family.

And the very… uh, earth, I was standing on was starting to become normal to me. On the third day, I had started to have an early midlife crisis, but Ruby put a stop to that rather quickly, thank god for that.

"So what do we do until then?" I asked as Yang looked at me with a smirk.

"Well, you need to at least know proper form before we even think about sparing." Said Yang as I let out an embarrassed chuckle. "There's a training room we can use to get you up to stuff."

"Lead the way," I said, gesturing with my right hand. I watched Yang open the front doors of Signal as I walked in behind her. I gave little attention to the school hallway we walked down, only getting glimpses of the layout and look of the school. Soon, we reached a room that fit the definition of 'training' rather well. Treadmills in one corner, weights and weight lifting machines lined one of the walls, and a padded mat set down right in the center of the room.

Yang walked over to the mat before she dropped her gauntlets, which were currently collapsed into their bracelet form, off to the side. She nodded to herself before she looked over at me. "Alright, let's get started!"

I gave a nod, walking onto the mat as I stood opposite of Yang. Yang gave a nod, before getting into a stance. I got into one that was loosely familiar to me. I had taken about 3 months of Taekwondo training before I had to quit because of personal reasons, so I had fallen into what I barely remembered to be the basic 'kicking' stance. It felt almost foreign, positioning my body in such a way, but that was probably due to it having been at least 7 or 8 years since I had used said stance.

I narrowed my eyes, following Yang's movements as I let out a breath. This wasn't the spare yet, I told myself in a vague attempt to calm down and not rush this. Yang made the first move, swinging her fist to my left, as I made a step to the right, raising my left arm to block the blow as I swung my right leg up while twisting my body to the left.

My foot closed in, meeting air as Yang quickly disengaged. I quickly brought my leg back up to my chest as I lowered my foot to the ground. I grunted, rolling my left shoulder. I never had good pain tolerance, so tanking an attack for one of my own was a concept I wasn't normally welcome to. I needed to change that considering what was out there in this world.

I darted forwards, my stance shifting into something I considered akin to a boxing stance, my forearms raised to either side of my head as I leaned to the right and threw a punch. Yang smirked, leaning to her right to avoid my punch before she grabbed my extended limb and pulled towards her. I was dragged forwards, my stance utterly forgotten as Yang spun around, sending a kick into the back of my head as I slammed onto the mat floor in defeat.

"Okay, so you have… a small idea on what to do." Said Yang as I decided the mat floor was surprisingly comfortable in this instance. "Now that I know your base, I can start helping you improve."

"Those are words that I wasn't expecting to come out of your mouth," I muttered, rolling over as Yang extended her hand to pull me up. I gripped the hand as I was quickly dragged to my feet.

"You have no idea how to fight hand to hand do you?" Asked Yang, a smirk on her face.

"Not a clue," I said, dusting myself off. "I had a bit of training… but that was YEARS ago."

"I guess we keep going at it then." Said Yang, getting back into a stance. "This time I'll actually teach you how to actually fight, instead of… whatever it is you've been trying to do."

"I can only see this go poorly." I said, taking in a breath as I raised my arms up to either side of my face, mirroring an 'I can do this all day' expression. "What the hell. Shall we?"

The next few hours were spent with Yang teaching me the basics, going over how I should hold myself stance wise in a fist fight, how to properly throw a punch, how to actually aim said punch, and she even got me started on noticing subtle movements that would give away where an opponent would be.

"I have never seen anyone pick up on this so quickly. You're not half bad!" Said Yang, as I sidestepped one of her punches, before throwing another punch that grazed her ear. "Still need to work on your aim though!" Yang laughed, bouncing back on the balls of her feet.

I rolled my shoulders, as I let out a breath. "So I've been meaning to ask, why the sudden interest in training me? Aside from me asking you that is." I had approached Yang with the idea when she was training Ruby in hand to hand so that her sister could defend herself when she was without her weapon. I was rather surprised when Yang almost immediately agreed.

"Well, I'll be gone in less than a month for beacon, right?" Said Yang, dashing forwards, as she threw a punch with her left arm at my chest, as I dodged to the right. A bad decision as I was quickly punished for dodging into the line of fire with a punch that I barely blocked with my arm, hissing at the stinging pain the punch left me. "I want… to make sure you can defend yourself!"

"That's… A given!" I exclaimed, throwing my right fist forwards, slamming square into Yang's nose as she stumbled back, a yellow glow around her face flickered to life before fading, her Aura if I remembered.

"Ooh, nice punch!" Said Yang, nodding at me. "And, it's also because I'll be gone in a few weeks and I won't really be able to be there for Dad and Ruby, with you they'll have another pair of hands that can help in case things get messy."

"You seem to forget that I'll be gone in the next few weeks as well, then I'll need to find further residence." I said, flicking my left hand with a flourish.

"Well, you're warming up to dad, so maybe he'll extend that window." Said Yang. I blinked, as she got out of her combat stance. "You've been well behaved, and you've helped out around the house enough, and don't get me started on those shortbreads you make."

"Family recipe." I said, thankful for having taken a photo of said recipe.

"But it's more than you've helped Ruby break out of her shell a bit more, though I do think dad is a bit worried of the idea of you to getting too close." Said Yang. "Though I highly doubt you two are getting anywhere near there."

"And I don't see that really happening either," I said, to which Yang raised an eyebrow. "Honestly, I see her more like a Sister than anything else. She… reminds me a bit of how my brother might act, only a lot more composed and a lot less grading on my mind. It's a loose connection, but it's there."

"Huh, so does that make me your older sister?" Asked Yang.

"I'm older than you!" I said, giving her a pointed glare, as Yang laughed.

"Physically, maybe. Mentally tough?" Asked Yang as I stuck my tongue out at her before the two of us broke down in laughter.

"Well, I think my dad should be done with whatever it is he was doing, wanna head to the arena?" Asked Yang, walking over to me.

"Might as well. A bigger arena that I could probably run circles around you in? I'm game." I said as Yang put her collapsed gauntlets back on. "...Where's the arena, exactly?"

"Follow me." Said Yang as she walked out of the room. I quickly followed after, the walls of the school blurring around me as I paid them no mind. It didn't take us long to find the Arena, though the fact it wasn't in the direct vicinity of the training room was curious to me.

"Here we are!" Said Yang, opening the doors as we walked in. The area was what one would probably imagine an arena floor to look like, an elevated 'stage' for the fighters, and a few rows of chairs for spectators. In front of said chairs was a screen of glass, or something similar, to protect the students from any stray bullets that could fly out from the arena.

Luckily for me, Yang said she wouldn't be using her gauntlets, which is probably for the best considering I don't think I'd survive ANY of her attacks if she used them.

"I see you guys got here early." Said the voice of Taiyang, as the tall blonde walked into the room behind us. "Just give me a second to set things up, then you two can start."

"...Well then, you ready?" Asked Yang, as she walked onto the arena floor.

"As I'll ever be." I said, getting into a stance that I had been going over and over the whole day.

"Alright, I'm all set up over here." Said Taiyang, as he looked up. "And begin!"

I narrowed my eyes as I braced for impact, as Yang launched forwards, throwing a right hook at me which I took on my right arm as I held my arms up to cover my head. I threw my left fist forwards in hopes of forcing the brawler to back off, but she just leaned to the side, grabbed my extended limb, and pulled me past her before punching the back of my head as I passed.

I hit the ground hard as I bounced and rolled across the arena. I let out a grunt of pain as I stood up, rolling my neck as I watched Yang bounce around on her feet as she waited for me to come closer.

I let out a breath as I took a different approach, charging head forwards. Yang brought her left arm back, before throwing it forwards towards me. I planted my left foot down as I slid into Yang's range. I leaned back as Yang's punch flew at my face, watching as it moved past my eyes by a few inches before I grabbed Yang's wrist.

"I saw this in a game once!" I said, pulling my right arm back and swinging it at her elbow. At the last moment, the yellow bracelet on Yang's arm expanded, transforming into her gauntlets as my forearm slammed into cold metal. "Gah! Sonnuva-!"

I didn't have time to finish the sentence as Yang ripped free from my grip and punched me in the stomach with her right hand, her gauntlet folding up on her left.

"So… what game was that?" Asked Yang, smirking at me.

"It's called DOOM… and it normally continues with your elbow snapped and your head torn clean off…" I said, to which Yang looked at me in what looked to be a mix of confusion and shock. "It's a game about killing demons if you're curious."

"Sounds like my kind of game." Said Yang, as she charged forwards.

"If you're a fan of shooters, it would be!" I said, ducking to the left from the attack from Yang. The blonde kept up the pressure, punch after punch flying towards me as I either braced for impact or dodged by a hair. "Would you give me a second!?"

"Nope!" Yang smirked, as I backhanded one of her punches and threw one of my own, my fist slamming right into her forehead.

"Ooh… That looked like it hurt." I said as I pulled my left hand back. I took a look down at it, finding a strand or two of blonde hair stuck to my knuckle. I brushed the strands off as I looked back up to see the furious face of Yang. "...Were… your eyes always that shade of red?"

"You bastard!" She exclaimed as I felt the air leave my lungs as Yang's fist embedded itself into my stomach, launching me backward.

"Oww…" I muttered, standing up as Yang stalked forwards. "Okay, I think this was an informative day, but for now-"

I didn't get a chance to finish as Yang grabbed my arm and threw me backward. I hit the ground and rolled, before looking up to see Yang unfurl her Gauntlets before she threw a punch in my direction.

"Yang, stop!" Taiyang shouted, but at that point, it was a bit too late.

The blast flew towards me, as I was stuck like a deer in headlights, before something inside me pulled and I threw myself to the right. The shot slammed into the ground next to me as it kicked up some dust and threw me into the glass protectors before I fell back onto the arena floor.

"Bryce!" I heard Yang shout as I was rolled over to see the practically mortified look on Yang's face.

"So is that red eye thing normal for everyone or just you?" I asked, letting out a laugh before grunting. "Oh, hurts to laugh. Also, was everything normally this blurry?"

"Dad... Dad, he's bleeding." Said Yang. "Why didn't you have your aura activated?"

"...Yeah so… uh, dumb question… but what the hell is Aura?" I asked as Taiyang came to a stop next to me.

"Oh." Said Yang, as Taiyang crouched down next to me.

"Hey, I need you to stay with me, alright?" Said Taiyang as I let out a nod. "Shit, I'm just glad you dodged it. This looks bad enough as is."

"Yeah, I'm calling that point blank for the time being," I said, gritting my teeth. "What's the damage?"

"You're bleeding, a lot. Yang, I need to call emergency services" Said Taiyang, as he pulled his scroll out. "As for you… Yang, I need you to try to unlock his aura."

"Oh, that'll be helpful." I muttered as Yang nodded, placing her left hand on my chest.

"This'll be a first." Said Yang, as I raised an eyebrow. "Okay… _For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee._ "

It wasn't anything at first, but as Yang continued I felt something from outside try to pull at something from within, but as Yang finished, that presence faded, seemingly as if it hadn't found anything.

"I… It didn't work?" Yang asked in confusion.

"Yang, the paramedics are here." Said Taiyang, as I felt my eyes start to grow tired. "Hey, don't pass out on me yet, okay? You're going to be okay."

My vision slowly faded to black, as I felt my body get picked up to be hauled to the hospital.

* * *

There was a rhythmic beating that seemed to echo around me, almost like a ticking clock. I opened my eyes, a marble white staring back at me as my vision slowly cleared up. I blinked, looking to my right to left to see a box indented in the wall, a desk fitted inside with a computer running sitting atop.

I sighed, looking back up as I let out a breath. "What… happened?" I asked aloud. My arms felt heavy, my whole body did as a matter of fact. I looked down, moving the cover off of my body to see I had been changed into a hospital gown. I let out a sigh as I looked up to my left, finding a single window to another room. I squinted, trying to focus in on a figure looking through it. They quickly moved to the side, leaving my view.

I didn't have a lot of time to dwell on it, as the door to the room opened up a few seconds afterward. I looked back to see a familiar face walk into the room, followed by a girl in a doctor's coat.

"How are you feeling Mr. Bridged?" Asked Emu, as I blinked.

"Heavy… and not much else really…" I said, looking back at the Gamer Doctor. "Where am I right now?"

"You're in CR." Said the girl, as I looked over to her. I caught a glimpse of the nameplate she wore, 'Asuna Karino'. "You were transferred from Beacon Academy's Medical Center."

"Why is that?" I asked, sitting up with a grunt.

"You've been infected with a strain of the Bugster Virus we've never seen before." Said Asuna, as I let out a sigh of annoyance. "We decided it best to take you here so we could analyze it properly."

"I was hired at Beacon Academy to help if the Bugster Virus was to ever infect any of their students." Said Emu. "Unfortunately, we were ill prepared for this new strain of the virus."

"How bad could this strain be exactly?" I asked. "It should be pretty easy to deal with, right? Transform, extract it if it's below lv 3, and then hyper invincibility it to death."

"The virus doesn't seem to be coming out." Said Emu, as I blinked. "We've been trying to get a reading on what the exact type may be, but for now we can only monitor you until it does something."

"Great…" I muttered.

"That said, I think there are a few people waiting to see you." Said Asuna, as she turned to the door and walked over. The door slid over, as she was quickly bumped to the side by a mass of rose petals as Ruby sped over to my side.

"Bryce! Are you okay? You're not hurt are you?"

"Ruby… Stop… Shaking me… Please…" I muttered, suddenly dizzy from all the shaking.

"Oh, sorry!" Ruby said, letting go of me as I massaged my temples.

"You gave us quite the scare there." Said Sento, walking over with Banjou. "How do you feel?"

"Dizzy," I said as Ruby pouted. "And a bit heavy."

"Oh, Emu! Hiiro just arrived!" Said Asuna as Emu looked up and nodded, the two of them walking out of the room.

"So… the others know I'm here?" I asked Ruby.

Ruby shook her head. "We didn't want them worrying, so we didn't bring it up."

I gave a short nod as I turned to Sento. "You guys sure you should be here?"

"If it's monster attacks you're worried about, don't." Said Sento. "Shinnosuke is standing on guard at Beacon for the time being, and even if I did want to help, there isn't much I can really do…"

"Ah." I nodded, looking back at the door as a man in a white doctor's coat with a blue shirt and tie walked into the room, followed closely by Emu and Asuna. Enter, Hiiro Kagami.

"No changes yet?" Asked Hiiro, as Emu shook his head, walking over to the touchpad next to me. "If the three of you could wait outside for a few seconds."

"Alright." Said Sento, motioning Ruby and Banjou out.

I watched the door close behind them before I looked over at Hiiro, his Gamer Driver already attached to his waist. Our eyes met as the doctor's sight lingered on me. "You…?" I raised an eyebrow, but Emu interrupted a moment later.

"Alright… I think I was able to distinguish the strain." Said Emu, nodding as he looked over at Hiiro. "The game is 'Climax Scramble'."

I felt my eye twitch at that, as Hiiro looked to Emu in confusion. "Climax Scramble?" He asked as Emu nodded.

"It's a new fighting game, where you can use the powers of different characters as your own." Said Emu, as he looked at me. "I don't know why the virus isn't emerging though."

Hiiro raised a white gashat up, before pressing down on the lever.

 _ **[TADDLE LEGACY!]**_

A pulse of white pixels spread out from under him, rolling over me as I felt something inside me violently pulsate. I let out a cry of pain as I fell back onto the hospital bed as my head started to ache once more.

"It's not emerging…" Muttered Hiiro as he put the gashat away, the pain slowly subsiding. "It's like a strange defensive system for the virus…"

"Hiiro, Emu, there are reports of Bugsters popping up!" Said Asuna as the two looked at her before Emu turned to me.

"We'll be right back." He said as the three of them ran out of the room. I watched as the doors started to close before they stopped in place. I widened my eyes as the familiar feeling of time freezing surrounded me. I, however, felt unaffected.

"My my isn't this a predicament." Said a voice, as I turned to the left, as a boy in a blue coat sat on the edge of my bed, kicking his legs back and forth. "The great Oma ZI-O reduced to a hospital patient."

"You…" I said, grunting. "Time Jacker!"

"Mhm. I am Uhr." He said, smiling as he nodded to me. "How the great ZI-O has fallen… Victim to the Bugster Virus, almost funny, all things considered…"

"You did pretty well against Ora." Said Uhr, jumping off as he tossed a Blank Another Ride Watch up and down. "But I also saw how much you worried about these things being used… so I wonder what kind of stress you'd be put under if I were to use it? Probably enough to make you disappear, no?"

"You…" I growled out, grunting as the buster virus infecting me started to act up.

"It seems I have my answer." He smirked, catching the Ride Watch. "I look forward to seeing what future our new king will bring us."

And like he was never there, time returned to normal as he disappeared in an instant. I let out a yell of anger, as I rolled myself off of the hospital bed, slamming hard onto the cold floor.

"Bryce!?" Ruby asked, running over to me as I struggled to stand up.

"WOZ!" I shouted as the man himself walked into the room.

"Yes, my Liege?" Asked the man, pushing past a worried Sento and Banjou.

"My driver and Ride Watch, please," I said, holding my hands out as I was quickly passed the items in question. I placed the Driver against my waist, gripping the Ride Watch as the belt shot out and wrapped around me.

 _ **[ZIKU DRIVER!]**_

"What the hell are you doing!?" Asked Banjou walking up to me, gripping my shoulders tight. "You're in no shape to even think about going out right now."

"You don't understand… Another… Another Rider is about to appear." I said as Sento looked at me with hardened eyes. "I don't know what kind of stress it'll put me under, but just with the knowledge that time Jacker would do it is enough to make the virus act up."

I let out a breath. "Oh… oh god…" I muttered as a bolt of pain ran through me, as I collapsed back to the floor.

"Bryce!" Ruby shouted, holding my side.

"I just realized… If it's Another Ex-aid… well, there goes my treatment." I said as the room grew quiet. "I need to… do something."

"...My lord." Said Woz, as I looked up at him. "I'm afraid it's too late."

There was a sudden shift, as everything seemed to distort around me before I passed out.

* * *

 _ **[7 years ago: Zero Day]**_

" _You have to become the best doctor in the world…"_

 _Time seemed to freeze at the end of that statement, as Hiiro Kagami stared at the fading body of his girlfriend._

" _Well, isn't this a predicament?" Asked a voice, as Hiiro turned around to see Uhr walk up behind him. "It must be terrible, being unable to do anything to help her right now. But… what if I told you that I could help you?"_

* * *

"...Dammit…" I muttered, looking up the ceiling of what looked like Beacons medical facility.

"Oh good, you're up." Said a voice, as I turned to see Emu sitting in a chair at a desk nearby. "You suddenly collapsed earlier, so your friends brought you over. How do you feel?"

"...Better than I did earlier." I answered, sitting up.

"Well, you're free to go for now. If anything happens, let me know." Said Emu, as I nodded, standing up. I paused, before discretely placing a blank ride watch on Emu's desk.

I closed the door to Emu's office as I let out a breath. "Not like I have a choice at this point…" I muttered.

"I see you've awakened, my lord." Said Woz, as I turned to him. "And it appears your stress level has fallen."

"...I was so worried about… having the people I once cheered for lose the power that made them whole, that I did everything I could to keep it from happening…" I said. "It's probably why I was so stressed out all the time…"

"And that has changed now, has it?" Woz said.

"Yeah," I said."In hindsight… it's kinda like a weight was just lifted off of my chest. And I think I needed a wakeup call anyways. Even if I don't like it, trying to stop riders from losing their powers is ultimately futile in the end…"

"Now… a question. Why did everything change around me so drastically?" I asked as Woz nodded to himself.

"It appears that the absence of CR led to the world's timeline changing drastically. While memories are the same, as you've found out yourself, the world had to relocate a few things to fit the new timeline." Said Woz.

"There was that much of a change?" I asked aloud. "Whoever became Another Ex-Aid must have had a lot to do with how time went along…"

"Bryce!" I heard a female voice shout behind Woz. He gave a slight tilt of his head, before walking past me, as Yang ran down the hall towards. "You okay?"

"Uh… yes?" I said in confusion.

"Sorry, I was a little worried, you passed out while we were sparring earlier." Said Yang. "I panicked and called down that guy to get you over here…"

"Oh… thanks." I said.

"Eh, don't mention it. I mean, it's not the first time, right?" Said Yang, as I looked off to the side.

"The first time I almost exploded. Passing out was the afterthought…"

"I'd assume passing out wouldn't have any thought put into it." Said Yang.

"Touche." I sighed. "Right, well nothing appears to be wrong with me-"

"Aside from the obvious?"Asked Yang.

"So I'm free to go for now," I said, before the wall to the doctor's office broke open as Emu flew out into the hallway. "And just like that, they bring me back in."

"You alright sir?" Asked Yang, as Emu struggled up.

"Yang, get him out of here." I said, placing the Ziku Driver on my waist.

 _ **[ZIKU DRIVER!]**_

"Got it! Come on, let's get moving!" Said Yang, as she helped Emu up.

"Right! Be careful!" Said Emu as he ran off with Yang.

I twisted the Zi-o Ride Watch off of the holder, before turning the dial and activating the watch.

 _ **{ZI-O!}**_

I slid the ride watch into the right slot as the holographic clock formed behind me. I pushed my right hand down onto the release button and raised my left over to my right side.

" _ **Henshin!**_ "

I swung down spinning the driver, completing the rotation as the Zi-o armor formed around me.

 _ **[RIDER TIME!]**_

 _ **{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}**_

"Let's get this over with." I said as I turned into the doctor's office to find… wait that's not right.

"The hell!?" I asked, looking around. "The place is empty!"

" _I wouldn't be sure about that~."_

"Huh-Gah!"

I felt a sudden impact against my chest, as I flew out of the opposite wall, crashing down next to Yang and Emu. "Oh hey guys… you catch the number of that bus or…?"

"Get up already." Said Yang, helping me to my feet as she pointed forwards. "We have bigger problems."

 _ **{EX-AID!}**_

"Oh, that's not good," I said, as I looked up to see a monstrous being walk down the hall towards us, his hands lifted to either side of his head in a familiar motion. I grit my teeth as I stood up and watched as Another Ex-Aid entered the light. "Another Ex-aid…"

" _Bugster… Will now proceed with the extraction."_ Said Another Ex-Aid, its teethed mouth opening with each word. It lowered it's arms, as pink pixelated energy ran past us, a game field activating around us as brown blocks formed around us.

I let out a gasp as I fell to my knees, a wave of pixelated energy flowing over me. "Oh, Joy… He can generate a game field… and the virus is reacting poorly to it…" I growled out in annoyance, standing up as I turned to Yang.

"Yang, get Emu out of here!" I shouted, looking back just in time to see the attack coming at me as I raised my arm to block Another Ex-Aid's strike. "Get going already!"

"Got it! Come on, let's go!" Said Yang, lifting Emu up as they ran down the hallway.

"Guh… _**EDGE OF TIME**_ **!** " I shouted, holding my right hand out as the sword materialized in a flash of pink light.

 _ **[ZIKAN GIRADE!]**_

 _ **[KEN!]**_

I swung forwards, slashing Another Ex-Aid back a few feet. I slammed my palm on the button on the ride watch slot of the sword, as I tightened my grip on the weapon.

 _ **[TIME CHARGE! 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… ZERO TIME!]**_

"Ora!" I roared, swinging the sword forwards with a pull of the trigger.

 _ **[GIRI! GIRI! GIRI!]**_

A wave of energy rippled off of the sword, flying back towards the Another Rider. The rider lifted its arms to block the attack, the energy wave crashing against, but not slicing through.

"Damn!" I muttered, gritting my teeth.

" _Can I join in on the fun yet?"_ Said another voice as I turned around to watch as another form walked out of the hole in the wall I was sent crashing into. " _This will be a fun game._ "

"Who the hel-Ack!?"

A red fist slammed into my stomach, as I flew back and crashed into the nearby wall. "Ow… I feel bad for the janitor… wait, isn't that Banjou?"

I blinked my eyes clear, looking through the helmet over my head at the blue and red form in front of me. "Oh come on."

If there was one rider I was never expecting to get an another rider version of itself… it would've been this guy.

Another Para-DX looked like his level 99 gamer form, but if you had given him the same treatment Another Ex-aid had gotten. Its right arm was morphed into a monstrous boxing glove looking fist, while it's right hand would be better described as claws.

"Okay, not liking my odds now." I said, grabbing the Cross-Z Ride Watch off the right shoulder and twisted the dial before activating it.

 _ **{CROSS-Z!}**_

I slid the Ride Watch into the left slot before slamming my fist onto the release button and spun the driver around.

 _ **[ARMOUR TIME!]**_

 _ **{WAKE UP BURNING! CROSS-Z!}**_

I charged back into the fray as the Cross-Z armor formed around me. I threw my punch forwards, slamming into Another Para-DX's shoulder, before swinging my sword at Another Ex-Aid, knocking him back a bit as I stepped back to get some breathing room.

"Why the hell is there Another Para-DX?" I asked myself in confusion, pulling the Cross-Z Ride Watch off the belt before placing it in the Zikan Girade.

 _ **[FINISH TIME!]**_

" _I would worry less about that later._ " Said Another Para-DX, placing one of his hands on a nearby block, breaking it open and grabbing the energy item inside.

 _ **{MUSCLE UP!}**_

The Rider charged me, as I ducked to the side, it's fist flying over me harmlessly. I pulled the trigger, swinging forwards at Another Para-DX as a wave of blue fire was sent flying at the Another Rider.

 _ **{Cross-Z}**_

 _ **[Giri Giri Slash!]**_

Another Para-DX waived his right hand, as one of the nearby blocks burst open and an energy item flew into him.

 _ **{REFLECT UP!}**_

"Oh shi-!" I exclaimed, as my attack suddenly bounced back, slamming into my chest as I was sent flying back. I slammed into the floor, rolling to a stop as my transformation canceled. "That… That's not good…"

I looked up, as Another Ex-Aid walked towards me, Another Para-DX in tow. " _Proceeding with Bugster extraction._ " The voice sounded out, as it extended one of its hands towards me.

"Gah!" I let out a gasp as I felt something inside me grip tight as something began to rip free from inside me. Orange static sparked over me as a familiar headache started to form in my mind.

Before anything else could occur, two metal tracks formed in the air, quickly closing in on the two Another Riders. " _Hmm?_ " Another Para-DX tilted it's head, before a toy car looking thing flew off the track towards Another Ex-aid, it's body lighting ablaze as it slammed into the monster's side, knocking the Another Rider into its brethren as they were pushed back.

I let out a gasp as the pain subsided, whatever Another Ex-Aid had been doing was suddenly disrupted as the sound of running caught my attention. I looked up, seeing Shinnosuke lending a hand towards me. "Sorry if I'm late, I was on the other side of the academy." He said. I took his hand, pulling myself up as we turned to the two Another Riders. "These those Another Riders Ozpin told me about?"

"Yeah, Another Ex-Aid, and Another Para-DX." I said, pointing at the respective riders. "I just don't understand why Another Para-DX is here."

" _Do not interfere with the operation!"_ Said Another Ex-Aid, charging at us only for what I assumed to be the Max Flare Shift Car slammed into the monster once more, knocking it back.

"We'll worry about it later. Belt-san!" Shinnosuke said, twisting the key-shaped object on his driver.

" _ **Okay, Start Your Engine!**_ " Belt-san said, as Shinnosuke pulled out a long red shift car, as he pressed a button on the side of the Car, the view screen lighting up to show multiple shift cars displayed through the screen.

 _ **{FIRE! ALL ENGINES!}**_

I smiled, pulled the Cross-Z Ride Watch off the driver before taking out the Build Ride Watch, quickly twisting the dial and pressing the activation button.

 _ **{BUILD!}**_

I slotted the Ride Watch in the driver, as Shinnosuke inserted the Tridoron Shift Car into the Shift Brace. I pushed the release button on my driver, before getting into position.

" _ **HENSHIN!**_ " The two of us shouted, as I swung my arm down, spinning the Ziku Driver around for a full rotation, while Shinnosuke ratcheted the shift car.

 _ **[DRIVE! TYPE: TRIDORON!]**_

 _ **[RIDER TIME!]**_

 _ **{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}**_

 _ **[ARMOUR TIME!]**_

 _ **{BEST MATCH! BUILD!}**_

"At this moment in time… We're skipping this catchphrase!" I shouted, charging forward with my arm-mounted drill crusher at the ready. "Shinnosuke, hold off Another Para-DX! I'll take Ex-aid over here!"

"Got it!" Shouted Drive, as he pushed back Another Para-DX. I returned my attention towards Another Ex-Aid, as I narrowed my eyes. I charged forward, swinging my Drill Crusher forwards at Another Ex-Aid as it batted the weapon to the side before it backpedaled a few steps, standing next to a power-up block. It smashed it's hand against the block, breaking it open as the Energy Item inside flew into the Another Rider.

 _ **{MUSCLE UP!}**_

I brought my arm up for another strike, only for the Rider to slam it's fist into my stomach, before following up with another punch, disarming my weapon, before finishing with a kick that sent me flying back a few feet.

I grunted, standing up as I held out of my right hand. " _ **EDGE OF TIME!**_ "

 _ **[ZIKAN GIRADE!]**_

 _ **[KEN!]**_

I spun the sword around in my hand, charging forwards once more, swinging upwards. Sparks flew as the tip of the sword scrapped against the chest of Another Ex-Aid, before it fell back onto its hands and pushed up, performing a handspring to recover.

I swung again, only to miss as Another Ex-Aid sidestepped and grabbed onto my wrist, disarming me. "Gah-!"

" _Continuing Bugster extraction._ " Said Another Ex-Aid, as its hand pushed against my chest as I felt the same pressure rip through my chest as my body sparked and convulsed, my transformation deactivating as the bugster was pulled.

"Bridged!" Shouted Shinnosuke, moving to intercept only to be blocked off by Another Para-DX.

" _Now now… Two on one isn't fair."_ Said the Another Rider, as he pushed back Shinnosuke.

I fought to keep my eyes open, as pain racked my body. I fell to my knees as I looked up at the face of the Another Rider. I tilted my eyes to the left to see an orange glow behind the rider.

"ORA!"

 _ **[VOLCANIC KNUCKLE!]**_

 _ **[ACHA!]**_

I watched in what felt like slow motion as the Another Rider was knocked to the side, as Banjou stood in front of me, his Great Cross-Z Dragon strapped to the build driver.

"Bryce! You alright!?" Asked Banjou, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"My Banjou, I don't feel so good…" I said, grunting as I shakily stood up, orange sparks flowing over my body. "Ugh, this is bad…"

Another Ex-Aid stood up, walking over to the two of us. " _Do not interfere with the operation."_ It said as I looked up in confusion.

"Is that a threat?" Asked Banjou, before he smirked, placing a hand on his driver's lever as he cranked it around, the snap ride builder forming around him.

 _ **[ARE YOU READY!?]**_

" _ **Henshin!**_ "

 _ **[WAKE UP CROSS-Z! GET GREAT DRAGON! YEAH!]**_

"I get the feeling I can't lose!" Exclaimed Banjou, slamming the magma bottle into the knuckle.

 _ **[BOTTLE BURN!]**_

Another Ex-Aid gave another look around. " _We're leaving."_

" _Now? And it was just getting good…"_ Said Another Para-DX, as he walked over to Another Ex-Aid. " _For now, good game, give us a better one next time."_

"Get back here!" Shouted Banjou, charging forwards only for the two of them to disappear in a burst of pixels. I gave a passing look around, the nearby game field dissipating as the energy blocks disappeared. "Damn…"

"Bridged! Are you alright?" Asked Shinnosuke, as he ran over to the two of us. He pulled the tridoron shift car out of the brace, as his transformation ended.

" _ **Nice Drive**_." Belt-San said as Banjou pulled his Great Cross-Z Dragon out of the build driver, canceling his transformation himself.

"I've had better…" I said, grunting as the bugster virus sparked up again. "...what do we do?"

"Isn't that… that virus thingy one of the other Another Riders had?" Asked Banjou, as I nodded. "You were brought down to that hospital in Vale about that right? Let's head there."

"Time was altered remember? I doubt CR will still be there." I said, grunting as another wave of pain washed through me. "The hell did it do to me!?"

"It doesn't matter right now. Shinnosuke, we need to get him to the Tridoron, now!" Said Belt-San, his digital face serious. "My scans aren't getting a great reading of him, but what I can see isn't good."

"Got it. Banjou, help me get him up." Said Shinnosuke, grabbing my arm.

"Got it!" Said Banjou.

"Wait… get… Emu… get him… he has… what we need to beat…" I felt my vision grow dark once more as I passed out.

* * *

" _What's the patient's status?" Asked a voice as he walked down the hallway of the hospital._

" _His vitals are fading. His chances aren't good…" Said a nurse as she walked down the hallway._

" _We attempted to unlock his Aura, but for some reason, we're not getting a response." Said the nurse._

" _What happened to him?" Asked the man._

" _Training accident. A stray blast caused some damage to his midsection."_

 _As the rounded the corner, two blonde figures say in the waiting room, one male, one female, a father, and his daughter. The Male had a hand on the girl's shoulder, in an almost comforting manner, while the girl's golden locks hung over her face._

 _As the Man walked into the room, the two looked up. "Yang Xiao Long, I presume?"_

" _...Yeah…" the girl responded, looking to the side. "...how is he?"_

" _Not well. Vitals are fading, and there's not much we can do but go into emergency surgery." Said the man, no sugarcoating of the situation in sight. "It's not looking good."_

" _...It's all my fault…" Muttered the girl. "...How am I ever going to face… anyone after this?"_

" _Doctor, we're about to start the surgery." Said the nurse, as the man turned around to walk away._

" _Wait!" The man paused and turned his head around to look at the girl over his shoulder. "Can you save him…?"_

" _Yang…" Her father said as Yang looked down._

" _I will." Said the man, as Yang snapped her head back up in rapt attention. The man looked ahead, eyes narrowed. "There is nothing I cannot cut."_

* * *

"Are you sure you should be walking around right now?" Asked Ruby, as I walked down the hallway. "What if the virus acts up again!"

"I'll be fine. More importantly, how did you know I was here?" I asked.

"Yang sent me a text. Said she'd be here soon with the rest of the team." Said Ruby. "...So… I take it that the monster of the week happened?"

"If it ends up becoming a monster of the week deal, I think I'll snap," I said, my eye twitching as we rounded the corner. "Anyways I need to think. Something was off about Another Ex-Aid… and I wasn't talking about the inclusion of Another Para-DX… it was… like he was familiar somehow…"

I sighed, looking back on the fight. There was something off. The rider was… more serious compared to the two other Another Riders I had dealt with earlier. The last guy was borderline consumed by the monstrous tendencies, but this guy… it was like he had, at the very least, a flight or fight system. He chose to leave when things weren't going his way.

That doesn't make things easier for us either. It just means that whoever Another Ex-Aid happens to be… well, they probably have full understanding of their actions as the Another Rider.

I let out a sigh, looking up at the ceiling, as I replayed the fight once more for what felt like the fifth time today. Before I could stop to remember the words that had been thrown about, a jolt of pain ran through me as the virus sparked up for but a moment. I let out a gasp as I collapsed to the ground in pain, holding my head as I felt a pair of hand grab my shoulders in worry.

"Bryce!?" Ruby asked as I let out a breath, the pain subsiding.

"It's nothing… just a sudden jolt." I muttered as Ruby helped me back up to my feet. I thought once more when a detail from the fight stuck out to me.

" _Bugster… Will now proceed with the Extraction."_

I clicked my tongue as I replayed the line. Extraction? What was this, a procedure or something?

I paused as the thought circled in my head. In terms of Ex-Aid, the job that would instantly jump out at me with Procedures would be doctors, which would make sense… Which actually makes a lot more sense now that I think about it.

"Bryce? You with me right now?" Asked Ruby, as I snapped out of my inner thoughts, almost running into the corner in front of me.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, spaced out." I said, chuckling as I rubbed the back of my neck. I looked to the right, only to pause as I watched as a man in a doctor's coat stand opposite of a woman holding out a white box, the kind you'd find a cake placed in. "Is that?"

"Huh? Who's that?" Asked Ruby, looking down the hallway. I took another step forward as the features of the two focused.

"...That's… Hiiro Kagami… Kamen Rider Brave… or, former… Kamen Rider Brave." I said as I looked at the woman opposite of him. "...that can't be…"

"Bryce?"

"...She… she died… she should be dead but…" I said. "How the hell is… what was her name, Saki? How is she alive? There's… a few explanations but… wait… If there was one person who would change time for… oh, oh… that explains a lot."

As if my words were a catalyst, time suddenly paused around Ruby and me, as Uhr walked past us with a smile on his face. "It seems you've pieced things together, Zi-o."

"Time Jacker." I said. "While painful and annoying, your bugster plan hasn't done me in yet."

"It's a work in progress." Said Uhr. "Unfortunately, it appears that I've made a bit of a mistake with my choice of Another Ex-Aid."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Ruby raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"It means the current Another Rider isn't really interested in becoming king, because he's a doctor first and foremost," I said. "I'm honestly surprised… I didn't expect you to make Hiiro Kagami Another Ex-Aid."

"He wanted to save the life of the one person who mattered most, and we wanted a new king, it was win-win it seems." Said Uhr.

"Then mind explaining Another Para-DX? Because I can't understand for a second what's going on with THAT." I said as Uhr shrugged, leaning against the nearby wall.

"Who knows, Swartz said it was an unexpected occurrence, but he didn't seem too mad about it. He actually seemed rather pleased." Said Uhr, as I looked to Ruby in confusion, who just shrugged, equally confused. "Wait? You don't know who Swartz is? I guess this really IS where your knowledge of the future ends, at least for our plans."

"Doesn't matter. What's really important is stopping this mess." I said, reaching for my driver, only to remember that I was in a hospital gown. "...Well, this is an interesting predicament."

"Then shall we continue?" Asked Uhr, skipping over to Hiiro as he reached into the rider's back, pulling out a purple looking Ride Watch before pushing down on the top button.

 _ **{EX-AID!}**_

Uhr smirked at me, before placing the another Ride Watch back inside and turned Hiiro to look at us. He gave a quick wave before quickly retreating as time resumed.

Hiiro let out a gasp as he fell to his knees, his girlfriend crouching over next to him. He looked up at Ruby and me, as a look of recognition passed over his eyes before his body burst open and he transformed in a flash of light into Another Ex-Aid. He looked up, the monster's eyes flashing red momentarily as a burst of pixels landed next to him, quickly taking shape of Another Para-DX.

"... _Now proceeding with Bugster excision."_ Said Another Ex-Aid, as I gave a brief look over at Ruby, before the game field quickly spread, as I fell to my knees in unbridled pain.

"...RUN!" I shouted, looking over at Ruby before I stood back up and dodged to the left, narrowly missing Another Para-DX's punch. "Damn it…!"

" _Sit still would you?_ " Asked Another Para-DX, as I rolled to the right, hopping up onto my feet quickly as the Another Rider chased after me. _"Then again, the chase is half the fun!_ "

"Oh for the love of-!" I exclaimed, quickly sidestepping as Another Ex-Aid ran past Another Ex-Aid with its fist raised. I had a second to suck in a breath of air before it was all let out as its fist slammed into my stomach, launching me towards one of the windows in the hallway. I smashed through, rolling onto the gravel road as I grunted from the force of the impact. "Ow…"

"It appears you are having trouble, my lord." Said Woz, as he walked in front of me. "Please allow me to buy you a bit of time."

"Yes, please…" I said as the Another Riders walked out onto the road. "Oh come on…"

"Don't worry, my lord. I do believe your help has arrived." Said Woz, as Banjou and Shinnosuke ran up next to me.

"Hey, guys…" I said, standing up.

"Bryce, I figured you'd want these back." Said Shinnosuke, handing me a duffle bag. I opened the bag up to see my driver and ride watches secured inside. "We'll handle this. You head to Emu, you said he was the key to victory, correct?"

"Yeah, good luck guys," I said, as Banjou and Shinnosuke pulled out their respective henshin devices. "Woz!"

"Gentlemen, it's been a pleasure, but we have matters to attend to." Said Woz, before he swung his scarf forwards, the fabric extending as it smashed into the two riders, knocking them onto their backs as the scarf suddenly wrapped around us, obscuring the light for a moment only to lift away to find us in the Beacon infirmary.

"Uh… the hell?" I asked as Ruby ran into the room a few seconds later, clearly out of breath.

"Guys! Bryce needs he-Bryce!" I had only a second to react before I was slammed into by the speedster. "How'd you get here so quick?"

"A wizard did it… or Woz at the very least. What the hell was that by the way?" I asked Woz, standing up.

"A wizard never reveals his secrets." Said Woz, clearly enjoying his newfound pass time of messing with me.

"Bryce?" Asked Yang, as she walked towards us with Emu in tow. "You're here. I thought you were at the hospital."

"I was… and then things happened… and I'm here." I said, looking over at Emu. "I see you're okay."

"I'm fine. I'm more surprised they didn't try attacking me again." Said Emu. He paused for a moment, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a green and pink Ride Watch. "I think this is yours… right? It wasn't always this color though."

"Yes! This is perfect!" I said, taking the Ride Watch out of Emu's hand as I smirked. "Now the game field has been matched... heh."

Ruby suppressed a groan as Yang snickered to herself. I looked back up and nodded. "Right. I'm off!" I said, grabbing the duffle bag as I ran out of the room.

"Wait, Bryce! Where are you going!?" Asked Yang.

"To help Banjou and Shinnosuke, I figured I've left them hanging long enough!" I said, pulling the Ride Striker Ride Watch out of the bag.

* * *

"Just sit still already!" Shouted Cross-Z, swinging his Magma Knuckle at Another Para-DX.

" _Maybe try actually hitting me already."_ Said Another Para-DX, sidestepping another punch before responding in kind, slamming its fist into Cross-Z's chest, knocking him onto his back as he rolled to a stop a few meters away, his transformation deactivating.

Shinnosuke was having just as much trouble against Another Ex-Aid, the rider having already regenerated from another of Drive's finishers.

"What the hell gives!" Shouted Banjou, standing up as Shinnosuke backed up as the Another Para-DX rolled its neck. "Nothing we're doing is hurting it!"

"Shinnosuke, I'm detecting incoming reinforcements!" Said Belt-San, as I pulled up to a stop next to them.

"You guys need some help?" I asked, the driver already against my waist.

"Where the hell were you, man?" Asked Banjou a smirk on his face.

"Around," I said, walking past the two of them. "Don't worry, I'll end this quick."

" _I wouldn't be too sure of that_." Said Another Para-DX, as another game field opened. I let out a sharp gasp as a wave of pain, unlike the earlier ones, erupted inside of me. I looked at my hands, finding they were fading in and out of existence. " _Ooh… that looks serious._ "

I let out a shaky laugh, as I forced my body to a stand. "You know what? I could care less about that… it's not like it'll do anything to me in the long run anyways."

I reached into my coat pocket with my left hand, pulling out a green and pink ride watch with a shaky hand. I raised it into the air, Another Ex-Aid taking a step back as if in recognition.

I twisted the dial of the ride watch to the side, the face of Kamen Rider Ex-Aid visible to the world. I raised my index finger to activate the watch before my hand faded from existence for a moment allowing the Ride Watch to fall through my hand.

Before it hit the ground, I caught the ride watch with my right hand, looking back up at the Another Riders as I faded in and out of existence. "Hiiro… I'll change your fate with my own hands." I said, before slamming my thumb over the activation button.

It happened almost immediately. White particles flew up around me as I felt the familiar pain of the bugster virus inside me burst open, only to fade after a few seconds as the virus swarmed like a tornado around me.

" _Huh, that's new…"_ Said Another Para-DX, before he looked down at his hands. " _Wait, what's going on!?"_

I watched as the another rider began to fade out of existence, his body slowly turning into a mass of red and blue pixels. A moment later, the pixels seemed to fly towards the bugster storm around me, the white turning red and blue before it quickly condensed around me, the virus absorbed into my body as my eyes lit up red for a moment, and the wind seemed to pass through my hair as it lifted for a moment.

The Ride Watch in my hand finally activated, the holographic face of Ex-Aid forming in front of the Watch.

 _ **{EX-AID!}**_

I looked back up at Another Ex-Aid, who had taken a step back in what looked like some form of shock.

I smiled, pulling out my phone before scrolling to the sound of choice… and pressing the play button, flipping the phone in the air as a static melody suddenly began to ring through the air.

 _ **[Play EXCITE - Daichi Miura]**_

 _ **(I gotta believe...)**_

I placed my phone back into my pocket before tossing the Ex-Aid Ride Watch over to my left hand. I quickly twisted and pulled the Zi-O Ride Watch off of the holder in a fluid motion.

I twisted the dial and quickly pushed down on the activation button, the holographic face appearing over the Watch.

 _ **{ZI-O!}**_

 _ **I don't wanna know heta na shinjitsu nara I don't wanna know shiranai kurai ga ii noni**_

I quickly slotted the Zi-O Ride Watch into the right-hand slot of the driver on my waist, the holographic clock forming behind me.

I gave a look behind at Banjou and Shinnosuke, before giving a brief thumbs up, as I looked back to Another Ex-Aid.

 _ **Why? Why? Why? Why? Kizukeba I came too far  
**_

I tossed the Ex-Aid Ride Watch into the air, before catching it with my right hand. I thrust it forward to my left, before swinging both my arms to my right.

 _ **Tomaranai kanjiru kono yokan wa  
The new beginning  
**_

I gave a quick pass of the watch to my left hand, before slotting it into the left-hand slot of the driver. I raised my right hand into the air, before quickly bringing it down on the release button on the driver.

 _ **michi no ryouiki ima wo kirihirakun da  
I gotta believe!**_

I gripped the left slot of the driver before throwing my arm to the right, the driver quickly spinning around as it gained a full rotation. The clock behind me spinning around as the pink characters for 'Rider' formed and shot forwards.

 _ **(Turn it on!)  
**_

 _ **[RIDER TIME!]**_

 _ **Soutou  
EXCITE! EXCITE! takanaru**_

I held my position as the watch bands spun around me, forming my armor before the Ex-Aid armor appeared in front of me.

 _ **EXCITE! EXCITE! kokoro ga**_

 _ **{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}**_

 _ **michibiku ano basho e kakenukete ikudake**_

I thrust my hand forwards, sending the armor flying ahead of me as I brought my arms in an x position before bringing them down, the Ex-aid armor slowly sliding back towards me like the holographic screens from Ex-Aid.

 _ **{ARMOR TIME!}**_

 _ **{LEVEL UP! EX-AID!}**_

 _ **(Hey!) I'm on a mission right now, (Hey!) I'm on a mission right now**_

The armor quickly snapped into place, from the health bar inspired chest piece to the pink anime hair styled helmet, and the two gashat shaped shoulder guards.

 _ **EXCITE! EXCITE! kotae wa**_

 _ **I. kono te no naka II. susumu beki life III. ikite iku dake**_

I raised my left hand up with my index finger raised, before moving it to the right. "I'll clear this game…" I began, before swinging my right arm to the left in a flourish. "With no continues!" I exclaimed, as the pink Japanese characters for 'Ex-Aid' flew towards my helmet and collided, forming the word over my visor.

 **(Play Kamen Rider Zi-O Battle Theme [REJOICE!])**

" _ **REJOICE!**_ " Woz proclaimed, stepping behind me from out of nowhere with his right arm raised. "The one to inherit all Rider Powers… The king of time who will rule over the past and the future. And his name is Kamen Rider Zi-O Ex-Aid Armour. This is the moment that he inherits yet another Rider's power."

"Ah… I missed this." I said, nodding to myself.

"My lord… I do believe you have a challenger to your throne to take care of." Said Woz, stepping back from the fray.

"Hm!" I nodded, as I raised my arms into the air. Almost immediately, two arm gauntlets of some kind flew down and snapped into place over my forearms. The design seemed to be a reimagined version of Ex-Aid's Gashacon Breaker, only as fists than a hammer. The Gashacon Breaker Breakers!

I rolled my shoulders as I raised the hammer fists in a challenging kind of way, Another Ex-Aid charging at me moments later. I ducked to the side, before bringing my left fist forwards and slamming the weapon into Another Ex-Aid's stomach. The Another Rider held still for a split second before he was sent flying backward. _**  
**_

I sighed. "Hiiro… I thought you were going to be the world's greatest doctor? I doubt you can do such a thing like this. Your job is to help people… but choosing to become Another Ex-Aid isn't doing anything but the opposite of what you want. So let me help you make things right." I said, pushing down on the activation buttons on both Ride Watches as Another Ex-Aid stumbled to a stand.

 _ **{FINISH TIME!}**_

 _ **{EX-AID!}**_

I pushed down on the release button, before placing my arm below the left slot of the driver, before swinging my hand upwards, the driver spinning around in a full rotation.

 _ **{CRITICAL!}**_

 _ **{TIME BREAK!}**_

I watched as a familiar looking finisher announcement screen spawned next to me and smirked as energy formed around my fist wildly. I threw my fist into the air, knocking the sign into a bunch of pieces before jumping after, slamming blow for blow at the pieces of the announcement before charging after them, watching as each piece slammed into Another Ex-Aid.

I reared both fists back, before throwing them forwards, the attack smashing into Another Ex-Aid's chest before an explosion of energy kicked up around us as I flew past the Another Rider and came to a slow stop.

I stood up, sliding the Ex-Aid Ride Watch off of the driver as the Ex-Aid armor dissipated around my Zi-O armor. I turned back to see the conscious form of Hiiro Kagami slowly getting off his back, the Another Ex-Aid Ride Watch lying next to him.

"Well, I don't know what I should've expected." Said a voice as Uhr walked over to the downed Hiiro. "But I won't just let things end here Zi-O."

He reached down and grabbed the discarded Another Ride Watch, before moving to place it back into Hiiro, only for a hand from the downed Doctor to stop him in his tracks.

"What?" Uhr asked as Hiiro looked up with a face set in stone.

"To you I say… no thank you." Said Hiiro, as he struggled to hold back the watch. "I'm… Going to become the greatest doctor in the world… And your continued interference is only an impedance!"

 _ **[ZIKAN GIRADE!]**_

 _ **[ZYU!]**_

 _ **[FINISH TIME!]**_

I gripped the gun in my hand, the Ex-Aid Ride Watch equipped to the slot as energy charged at the end. I pulled the trigger as a burst of energy fired from the barrel.

 _ **{EX-AID!}**_

 _ **[ZURE ZURE SHOOTING!]**_

The blast slammed into the Another Ride Watch in Uhr's hand, the Another Watch shattering in a matter of seconds. _**  
**_

Uhr looked down at his now empty hand before turning to glare at me. "So be it then, Overlord." He said, standing up as he dusted his coat off. "But don't think this is going to help you much."

Time froze around us suddenly, as Uhr walked off, leaving the four of us in varying states of array. I passed the Zikan Girade to my left hand before pulling the Zi-O Ride Watch off of my driver, canceling the transformation.

* * *

"How is he?" I asked, standing in the waiting room with Shinnosuke and Banjou.

"He's stabilized. There doesn't appear to be any major issues as of right now." Said a familiar looking Doctor. "Hiiro will be just fine. Thank you for bringing him here when you did."

"It's no problem." I said, smiling.

"Still, you do have my thanks. As his father, I can't help but worry sometimes…" Said Dr. Kagami. "He's been distracted as of late, so hopefully this will be a bit of a change for the better."

"We can hope." I said.

"Bryce!" The four of us turned to see Yang, Ruby, and Emu walking down the hallway towards us. "Oh, you're not dead. That's a relief." Said Yang.

"Oh, you're…!" Said Dr. Kagami, as Yang turned to face him. "I see. I thought our newest patient looked familiar."

"Hold on, I'm lost." I said.

"Hiiro doesn't like to interact with his patients, he says it interferes with working." Said Dr. Kagami. "Probably why he didn't tell you the news himself when you were in a month ago."

"...Wait… I know I had surgery but… Oh wow, okay, that's something…" I said, blinking.

"Ah, Emu Hojo! It's good to see you again!" Said Dr. Kagami, as Emu gave a polite nod. "I heard you were hired by Ozpin, congratulations! Oh, can you… come with me for a moment? We need to talk about something important."

"Okay. I guess I'll see you guys around. Hopefully outside of the infirmary." Said Emu, as he walked off with Dr. Kagami.

"...Speaking of Ozpin, I'm gonna need to have a chat with him." I said, tossing the Ex-Aid Ride Watch up into the air before catching it as it landed in my palm.

* * *

"I take it no luck, my lord?" Asked Woz, as I face planted onto my dorm room bed.

"Ozpin's out doing god knows what right now. So I'll have to bring it up with him at a later date…" I said, rolling over.

"If your plan involves the revival of Kamen Rider Brave, I have some bad news for you, my lord." Said Woz, as I looked up. "When a Ride Watch is created and steals a rider's power, all aspects related to the rider in question also cease to exist. Meaning any enemies said rider might have had no longer exists and any rider that was closely tied to the stolen power also fades to nothing."

"But there's like… multiple inconsistencies with that. Hiiro became a rider BEFORE Ex-Aid did in the mainline continuity. And if the bugsters disappeared, then why was I still infected by one?"

Woz smiled, opening his book as he read through the pages. "You are a singularity point, which means changes in time do not affect you as they might for Build or Great Cross-Z. The bugster virus itself was attached to you, which means that it shared similar properties. All other traces vanished, along with the original proto gashats which you might have tried to use as a means of recreating Brave."

"...Wait, what was that about Banjou?" I asked.

"Kamen Rider Great Cross-Z? He's just as susceptible to changes in time. If he were a singularity point himself, there would be no issue with his driver at all. However, he is unable to transform into his final form at the moment, which means while his memories are exempt, his powers are not." Said Woz. "The same goes to his Great Cross-Z Dragon, since it too has both his and the extraterrestrial life from Evolto's DNA inside of its circuits."

"Great…" I said, sighing. "So it's useless to try to recreate Brave because the bugster threat doesn't exist, and even if it didn't, the proto gashats don't exist anymore so there's no possible way to even try a workaround..."

I leaned forwards, sitting up as I hopped off the bed. "Well, at the very least I don't have to worry about being infected by the virus anymore."

"..." Woz continued to read his book after I said this, suddenly quiet. I slowly turned to look at him as he kept his eyes glued to the pages.

"Woz… I'm no longer infected, right?" I asked. Woz sighed, snapping his book shut as he looked up.

"My lord… It appears I've left something important out of my explanation. With that said, allow me to introduce to you your third team member." Said Woz.

"My third team member?" I asked before I felt something inside me kick, as my eyes suddenly burned and a rush of red and blue color envelop my vision as I was knocked me to the floor.

I looked up, as a mass of red and blue pixels merged together and began to take shape in front of me. It was a remarkably quick process, and by the end of it a man looking about my age, if not a tad bit older formed out of the mass. The most noticeable detail was his rather colorful pants, mainly purple in color but with blocks of red, blue and yellow running up the leggings much like how he himself had formed. As for the rest of his outfit, a black short-sleeved coat hung around his shoulders, the cuff of the coat snapped together around his neck. Yellow, red and blue laces of string hung around his waist, as a blue shirt lay underneath the black coat. His arms were mostly covered by pink sleeves that seemed to have been taken from a sweater, and it looked unclear if it was a part of the coat or the shirt underneath it.

Parado stopped and turned around to look at me in confusion, as I blinked once before looking at Woz. "This is your fault somehow, I know it."


	10. Chapter 5-5: Puzzles, I guess

**(Author's Note)**

 **Hey guys! 0n3dge here, and welcome back!**

 **I know a lot of people had questions after the events of the last chapter, so don't worry, all that gets cleared up right away.**

 **So with that out of the way, onto reviews!**

 **To Cross-Z Magma: You know... shit that might actually be kinda right. Well, time to figure that plot line out.**

 **Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I'll try to put the next chapter out quicker than the last chapter was in the wings for.**

 **ONTO THE STORY!**

* * *

"This is… Bryce Bridged. Let's see… It's been… two… two weeks since Beacon has started. And a little over a week since Parado joined team… Let's see take the B from my name, the W from Woz's… and the P from Parado… Yeah, this is a hot mess waiting to happen." I let out a sigh, holding my phone in my right hand, the recording app opened up.

"Right, well, it's been a little over a week and I figured I might as well put down some of my findings, or just… the general information." I said, nodding to myself. "I figured this would be a good way to get my thoughts in order about this whole thing…"

I straightened up in my chair. "Right, well I figure I should start at our meeting… the… third one." I muttered, looking to the side. "So… Parado emerged from me… and then there was like… 5-10 seconds of silence before I blamed Woz for the whole thing. He denies he had any part but I swear he had SOMETHING to do with it. I can't tell if he's just trolling me or just trying to help right now…"

"But as for Parado… Well, aside from initial confusion, I figured out a few… things, that made things a bit easier, and a bit more complicated." I tsked, cracking open a can of 'People Like Grapes!' soda. "Well, the immediate thing to note is that his memory… is non-existent. Though specifically in relation to the past Ex-Aid timeline. No memory of Emu, as shown when Team RWBY was showing the new member of my team around the school and they ran into the doctor. Not even a look of minor recognition, from either of them."

I took a sip, before letting out a sigh. "Though I expected as much to have been the case. So in terms of memories, he doesn't remember anything related to Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, or heck, even Another Ex-Aid seems to not trigger anything in his… I wanna say brain, but I'm not actually a hundred percent sure if Bugsters have physical brains… Let's just say they do and move on from that subject…"

"But what makes this whole thing weirder is that he somehow remembers that he was a Kamen Rider, or at least is able to BECOME one. Which is a whole nother question in it of itself that I figure I'll leave to stir on its own." I leaned back in my chair, letting the exhaustion flow through me. "As for how Parado… well, how he became a part of me in the first place… well, I have two theories. Well, two or three."

"The first is that Woz did something," I said, nodding to myself. "The second, and honestly more probable… is that in taking the powers of Ex-Aid… I might have also done so… in a literal sense…"

"Kamen Rider Ex-Aid… The source of the Gamer Riders was the surgery they partook in to allow them to access their Drivers and Gashats." I said, taking another sip of my grape drink. "However, Emu, otherwise known as Ex-Aid, didn't have this compatibility surgery. He was actually the… patient zero for the virus, well, either he was or Masamune Dan was, I'm a bit foggy on who was first, but that's beside the point. The bugster that formed from Emu was known as, Parado. And because of this… _TECHNICALLY,_ Parado is the source of Kamen Rider Ex-Aid's powers."

"So by activating the Ride Watch, the only thing I can reasonably think of is that… well, I'm now the inheritor of Ex-Aid's powers, and that presumably includes every facet of it, even the second personality obsessed with Tetris."

I paused. "Footnote: Parado is unsurprisingly hooked on the game boy version of Tetris I had on my Phone's Game Boy Emulator. So just getting my phone away from him so I could record this was issue enough…"

"As for the subsequent deletion of the other Virus wrecking my nervous system, I assume when I, for lack of a better term... assimilated Parado, I think that's how I use that in a sentence, it rewrote the virus, or at the very least the process made me immune to it. So that virus is no longer a problem, as Woz stated earlier."

"The third possibility in all of this is that Zi-O's mechanics were going down a path of being really really dumb and that's bleeding over to this world." I sighed. "Though considering they showed the skywall in the past during Build's episode, and then not showing it up for anything earlier in the timeline, even though in Build's world it was there for some odd years beforehand, I'm not too surprised by this."

"Well, as it currently stands, that's all I really have to say on the matter for the time being. So for now… Well, I should probably get moving. I have… combat training with Banjou in like, 10 minutes." I pressed the stop button, the recording saving to my phone as I placed it in my back pocket and picked up my Driver and Ride Watch.

* * *

"...I really need to get him an actual handheld so he'll stop taking my phone…" I muttered, watching as Pardo tapped on the screen of my phone. I sighed, looking back as the fight in the arena ahead of us concluded.

"A good show from the both of you. Now then, do we have any volunteers for the next fight?" Asked Glynda. There was almost a second of time before anyone raised their hand, but Weiss' had snapped up to attention in a matter of seconds. "Ms. Schnee then. Anyone else?"

"Then I suppose I'll pick someone myself…" Glynda said, her eyes scanning over the crowd of students before her eyes landed on the bugster sitting next to me. "Ah yes, Parado. We have yet to see what you have to offer. If you'll step into the ring, we can begin."

Parado stood up, quickly handing me my phone before he began walking down to the arena. To my right, Ruby and Yang scooted over to me as we watched my colorful teammate step into the ring. "So Bryce, what can we expect out of gamer over there?" Asked Yang, as I leaned forward and placed my hand to my chin.

"...Honestly? I'm not too sure myself. Since he's currently without weapons, he'll probably go for a close quarters approach…" I said. "Speaking of, I need to look into getting him something to fight with…"

"Close quarters huh? Well, he has my attention now." Said Yang, as she looked back at the fight.

"A prediction, my lord." Said Woz, standing behind us as he leaned against the wall, his book in his hands. "Your newest knight will leave the arena with a total victory."

"Hey, I'm sure Weiss has this in the bag!" Said Ruby, as she cheered on her teammate. "Kick his butt, Weiss!"

I shrugged. "Parado, Shoryuken!" I called out as Weiss pulled her rapier out. Yang gave me a dubious look, to which I rolled my eyes too. The bell rang, and the match began.

* * *

"Game start." Parado said to himself, as the cylinder on Weiss' rapier spun around as she switched her dust cartridge. He smirked and sidestepped as Weiss charged forwards, thrusting forwards with her rapier as it slipped past Parado.

Parado hopped back a few steps, a challenging smirk on his face as Weiss, lined the blade of her sword in a veil of fire dust. He snapped his fingers suddenly, as a wave of pixels flew over the room, as round medallion like objects spawned in the air around Weiss and Parado.

"Huh? Is this his semblance?" Weiss blinked in confusion before Parado smirked and waves his hands up, almost like a conductor. The energy items around them quickly raised into the air and got into a single grid. Parado waved his arms again, the items switching around before he selected three medals out of the group and pulled them towards himself.

 _ **{MUSCLE UP!}**_

 _ **{REFLECT UP!}**_

 _ **{SPEEDING UP!}**_

Weiss narrowed her eyes before swinging her rapier forwards, launching a wave of fire towards Parado. The bugster smirked, as the blast slammed into his chest. A moment later and a flash of silver launched the attack back at Weiss.

"What!?" The Dust Heiress' eyes widened in shock before she raised one of her hands as a glyph formed in front of her, catching the rebounded attack and negating it.

"Now you got my heart boiling." Parado remarked, charging forwards with a shake of his right arm, closing the distance between the two of them quickly. Parado leaned to the side, avoiding another swipe from Weiss as he reared his fist back. A moment later and his fist slammed into the huntress' stomach, knocking her back and discarding her weapon.

"Losers deserve an ending befitting a loser." Parado announced before he waved his hands once more, flinging an energy item towards Weiss as she struggled to a stand.

 _ **{SLEEP!}**_

"Huh? Wha-" Weiss didn't get a chance to finish her train of thought, before she dropped to the ground, passed out.

"The winner of this match is Parado." Said Glynda as the match ended. "In the future, please don't end training matches by forcing your opponent to pass out.

* * *

"...Didn't know he could do that." I said. "Neat."

"That was so cool!" Said Ruby.

"Weiss lot hard though." Said Yang, as she looked down at the two in the arena.

"...Gauntlets. We're getting him something like Yang's weapon," I said, nodding to myself. "Mind helping with that Ruby? You too Yang, I guess."

"Are you kidding!? Yes!" Ruby said as Parado sat down next to us.

"Good match, Parado." I said, giving the bugster a thumbs up.

"It wasn't much of a challenge. It's more fun when you're up against a tougher opponent," He responded, to which Ruby and Yang gave him dirty looks. Parado paused at the glares and spoke to clarify before he dug himself into a hole. "The match was a bad matchup is all. I have power over the energy items I spawn, so it's as simple as finding the right match to clear the whole field."

"...Yeah, your puzzle powers are actually kinda terrifying now that I stop to think on it." I said as my eyes widened.

"Now then. Since we appear to be out of volunteers, I'll set the next match up to randomization." Said Glynda, as she pressed a button on her scroll. A moment later, and the profiles of Jaune and Cardin popped onto the screen. "Jaune Arc and Cardin Winchester. If the two of you would meet in the arena, we can begin."

"You got this Jaune!" Shouted Ruby, as I leaned back.

"...Your thoughts Parado?" I asked him.

"The blonde scrawny one is going to lose this match." He responded simply.

"Yeah, I was afraid of that." I said, letting out a sigh.


	11. Chapter 6: The Mad King

**(Author's Note)**

 **Hey guys...**

 **SO. It's been a bit more than a hot minute since I've updated this thing, huh?  
**

 **I've been eating away at this thing for the last... Wow, okay I started this thing back in July.  
**

 **College has been busy, stuff and things and the like, but it's been both a blessing, to... some extent at least.**

 **For one, Zi-O wrapped, which means I know more about the power set and how to go about writing these kinds of things out. I also know how to go about things differently than I would've originally if I just kept up the pace of chapters at the start, so the break did me well.**

 **Also, Zero-One is awesome and no one can tell me otherwise.**

 **That said, I wanted to thank all of you guys for your continued support of this story, and I wanted to say to keep safe since, Covid and all that shit.  
**

 **With this free time I have, and since I finally finished this mess of a chapter, I have some decent motivation to keep on writing so I'm gonna get started on that now. See you guys later, and enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 _"Damn that Zi-O…" Uhr said, plucking a throwing dart out of the air as he walked past a customer frozen in time._

 _"So much for your plan…" Ora said, sitting on one of the booth seats of the bar, a drink in her hand._

 _"Did yours work out any better?" Asked Uhr._

 _"We already had a solid candidate, but of course_ He _needed to test out the mechanics of it all." Said Ora._

 _"Another Cross-Z did last longer than our options though." Said a male figure sitting at the bar, the most notable sight being the long purple coat he wore. "Though I suppose it is a matter of perspective…"_

 _"Swartz…" Uhr said, narrowing his eyes at the older man sitting at the bar._

 _"Nevertheless, our newest addition is proving quite resourceful." Said Swartz._

 _"Speak of the Devil…" Ora said, watching as the door to the establishment opened and a man in a black leather coat with gold accents walked into the room._

 _"Funny." The man said, rolling his neck as he walked over to behind the bar and grabbed two glasses._

 _"Aren't you a bit young to be drinking?" Asked Uhr, as he gave a passing look over at the Newcomer._

 _"Hey, I'm 19. I'm of legal drinking age." The man said, as he poured a glass of top shelf liquor for himself before doing the same for Swartz. "I wanted to test something out, so you'll excuse me for being late."_

 _"Oh? What might that have been?" Asked Swartz as the man placed the bottle back on the top shelf._

 _"I wanted to know what would happen if I gave the powers of an Another Rider to the original owners of the power? Would the power of the Another Rider jump up? What would happen?" The man said, taking a seat by the bar and taking a sip of his drink._

 _"You gave a rider their powers back? Isn't that something we don't want to do? Aren't they the good guys here?" Asked Uhr._

 _"Oh trust me, I know someone who fits our preferred criteria." The man said, leaning back into his seat. "We have nothing to worry about."_

 _Uhr scoffed, before throwing the dart at the dart board. The newcomer raised his hand and stopped the dart's perception of time, as it began floating in the air._

 _"With that said, I have things to do and an Another Rider to watch over…" Said the man, walking over to the floating dart, before he nudged it a bit to the left._

 _"If that's what you wish to do then go right ahead." Said Swartz. "You've been a pleasant surprise to our cause…" Swartz stopped suddenly, before smirking. "Sougo Tokiwa."_

 _Sougo smirked, before walking out the door. As soon as he did the hold on the dart vanished, sending it flying into the exact center of the dart board._

* * *

"This is the part where you lose." Cardin said, holding his mace over his shoulder. Jaune stood opposite from him, leaning against his sword in support, clearly exhausted.

Jaune stood up, gripping his sword. "Over my dead-!" Before the words could leave Jaune's mouth, a knee suddenly slammed into his gut, courtesy from Cardin. Jaune let out a breath of air as he dropped his sword and fell to the ground, pain clear on his face. Cardin raised his mace once more, poised to slam it down onto a clearly worried Jaune, but the sound of the arena buzzer cuts him off.

A moment passes as the lights shine back onto the surrounding bleachers as Glynda's voice rings out.

"Cardin, that's enough!" Glynda stated, as Cardin lowered his mace and walked away. Glynda walked back onto the stage, followed quickly by Banjou and the Great Cross-Z Dragon, before she tapped her tablet, the aura levels of both combatants flashing onto the projected screen under their portraits. "Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match."

Jaune laid back down onto the floor in defeat as Glynda turned her head to look at the losing warrior. Jaune pulled out his scroll, his aura level low and blinking red, compared to the full green bars of his team's aura levels next to his. "Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your Scroll during combat." Glynda chastised Jaune, who let out a sigh and nodded. "Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it's appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more... defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now, would we?"

"Speak for yourself..." Cardin muttered off to the side.

"What was that?" Asked Banjou as he crossed his arms, an action to which Cardin chose to remain quiet about.

I looked over to see the reactions of Team RWBY. Yang was punching the air in not so hidden anticipation. Weiss, who was now awake after her fight with Parado, was shaking her fists with an excited smile. And Ruby's body was practically shaking with enthusiastic energy while she squealed softly. I gave a look over at Parado, only to see him with his face glued once more to Tetris.

"Remember, everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing!" Said Glynda. "Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale!"

The bell began to ring, as the students around me stood up and started to leave. I looked over to my left, seeing the rest of Team JNPR standing up. My eyes locked onto the partner of the losing fighter in the arena, Pyrrha, whose face was locked into a sad frown, looking almost guilty to some extent. I stood up, but not before taking another glance at Jaune, who just sat where he was in disappointment most likely directed at himself.

* * *

"So! There we were, in the middle of the night..."

"It was day."

"We were surrounded by Ursai..."

"They were Beowolves."

"Dozens of them!"

"Two of 'em."

"But they were no match... And in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!" Nora proclaimed proudly as I watched her tell her story with mild interest. Ren had cut in to correct some of… well, all of the details, of Nora's story as the girl went along.

"She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now." Ren said, as I let out a nod in understanding.

"Think it means anything?" I asked, shrugging. "Should look that up, could help."

Pyrrha looked over to her partner, who continued to poke at the food on his plate. "Jaune? Are you okay?"

Jaune blinked, as he returned to the conversation at hand from wherever his mind had wandered. "Huh? Oh, yeah! Why?"

"It's just that you seem a little... not okay..." Ruby said, poking her index fingers together.

Jaune let out a shaky laugh. "Guys, I'm fine. Seriously! Look!" He held up his thumb while laughing nervously.

"That doesn't convince anyone, you know that right?" Asked Parado, who was sitting next to me once more on my phone.

"I really need to get you an actual handheld." I said, looking over to him.

Pyrrha spoke up what all of us had been thinking for the past few weeks. "Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school!"

Jaune nervously looked to the side. "Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah... He just likes to mess around! You know, practical jokes!" He said.

Ruby narrowed her eyes as she crossed her arms. "He's a bully."

Jaune scoffed in false bravado. "Oh, please! Name one time he's 'bullied' me."

I paused, and looked up in mock thought, a finger resting against my right temple. "Well, let's see… There's the time he activated your shield when you were leaving the classroom and ended up getting you stuck in the doorway, making you late to Glynda's combat class. There are the numerous times he's tripped you, the times he's made you drop your books… need I say more?"

"That's not so bad-"

"There was also the time he pushed you into one of the rocket powered weapon lockers and set in random coordinates before sending you off to what might've been your death if it wasn't for our team who had to go out and rescue you." Said Parado, looking up from his game.

"I didn't land far from the school!" Jaune said jokingly.

"You were at the far edge of the emerald forest!" I said, before my face shifted into a glare. "And Ozpin made the two of us go after you!" I jabbed my thumb out at Parado before letting out a sigh of frustration. "Training my ass…"

Pyrrha gave a patient smile to her teammate. "Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask." She said.

"Ooooh!" Nora stood up from the table with a grin that wouldn't look out of place on a physcopath, or Dan Kuruto. "We'll break his legs!"

"Guys, really, it's fine! Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone." Said Jaune as he raised his left hand.

"Just because you're correct, doesn't mean you're right." I said with a frown.

"Ow! That hurts!" I looked over to the other side of the cafeteria, finding Cardin and the rest of his team crowded around a brown haired girl with two brown rabbit ears poking out of the top of her head. One of said ears currently being tugged on by Cardin. "Please, stop..."

Cardin laughed loudly as he continued. "I told you it was real!"

"What a freak!" One of his teammates chortles back.

"Atrocious. I can't stand people like him." Said Pyrrha.

"He's not the only one..." Blake said, eyes hardened.

"It must be hard to be a Faunus." Said Yang, leaning her head against her hand.

"..." I glared daggers at the sight in front of me, my hand tightening around the empty can as it slowly compressed with a loud cracking sound.

"Bryce?" Asked Ruby, before I stood up.

"I'll be right back." I said, turning around to start walking over towards Cardin, only for a man in what appeared to be a whitish grey version of Beacon's teacher uniform. "Huh?"

"Excuse me! Sorry, but could someone tell me what's going on here?" Asked the man, as the group turned over to look at the man.

"What's it to you?" Asked Cardin, as the girls face lit up momentarily at the appearance of the man.

"Ah! Mr. Kisaragi!" Said the girl.

"Velvet! Good to see you! Where's the rest of your team if you don't mind me asking?" Asked Kisaragi.

"Different lunch periods…" the girl responded, her ear still held firmly in Cardin's grasp.

"Hey! I asked you a question!" Cardin stood up, gripping onto Velvet's ear tighter as he stood up, the rabbit faunus letting out a yelp of pain as she was dragged along.

"Oh! You must be one of the first years! I haven't had the time to introduce myself yet!" Said Kisaragi. "I'm Gentaro Kisaragi! The student councilor!"

"...Oh… that actually makes a bit of sense." I said, smiling as I sat back down.

"The student councilor?" Weiss asked. "And why are you sitting down?"

"Just watch." I said. "Gentaro has this covered."

"T-the student councilor!?" One of Cardin's teammates, Russell I believe, said as his face dropped in realization.

"Hey wait a second, why are you holding onto Velvet's left ear?" Asked Gentaro. "You realize that's painful for her right?"

"Of course I do!" Said Cardin.

"Hey Cardin, we should go." Said Russell.

"What the hell are you worried about?" Asked Cardin.

"Oh… Are they bullying you Velvet?" Asked Gentaro, as Velvet gave a strained nod. "Ah… What was it Glynda told me to do in this case… Oh yeah!"

The teacher reached into his pocket, before taking out four slips of paper and handing them to the four members of Team CRDL. "What the hell is this?" Asked Cardin.

"Detention!?" Sky said in shock, as the four of them looked up at Gentaro in shock, Cardin's hand slipping off Velvet's ear as she slipped by and stood next to Gentaro.

"Well, I'll leave it with that." Said Gentaro, before he turned to Velvet with his fist extended as they fist bumped. "Enjoy your lunch!"

I watched as Gentaro walked out of the lunch room in complete silence. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Gentaro Kisaragi. The man who will befriend everyone." I said, as a comfortable volume returned to the cafeteria. I paused before pulling my phone out of Parado's hand. "Oh crap, gotta go. Combat practice!"

"How is it that you're getting more combat practice than anyone else we know?" Asked Weiss as I picked up my tray.

"I wish I knew, Weiss.." I said, before turning around and walking away from the table.

* * *

"So… Mind telling me why we're doing this?" I asked, cloth wrapped around my hands as Banjou stood opposite of me, pads over his hands.

"We can train all we want transformed, but there will be times you'll be without your armour. That's what we're going to be working on here." Said Banjou, holding the pads up.

"Understandable. So… Boxing then?" I asked, as Banjou nodded. "Who's idea? Sento's?"

"Oi! I am your combat teacher you know! I can see the flaws you have and can figure out how to improve them. I may not be the best at the science stuff, but when it comes to the physical stuff I'm sure as hell more suited than Sento is." Said Banjou. "But it was half of Sento's idea."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"I have a theory." Said a voice as the doors to the arena opened up. Sento walked down to the bleachers and sat down, a tablet sized scroll in his hand. "I wanted to see if I was right on it."

"What's with the tablet?" I asked.

"Course material. Turns out Professor Peach is heading out on an administrative leave for personal reasons, so I'm filling in for her for what appears to be the rest of the year." Said Sento, before looking up. "As for my theory, I wanted to test your learning capabilities."

"My… Learning capabilities?" I asked.

Sento nodded, swiping across his scroll's screen. "You're ability to utilize the full potential of the Ride Watch's power. Your acclimating to it rather fast, and from what I heard from Yang, you're as fast of a learner out of the armour as you are in the armour."

"She did say I picked up close quarters rather quickly…" I said to myself.

"Right, so we're going to see how quickly you pick up Boxing from the gorilla and then go from there." Said Sento, looking up. "Also, can I borrow the Build Ride Watch for a bit. I noticed you were imitating my moves while transformed, so I wanted to see if the Ride Watch itself had anything to do with your heightened learning ability.

I pulled the red and blue watch out of my pocket before throwing it over the Sento. I turned back to Banjou with my arms raised. I let out a breath, before smirking. "Right, so… Shall we?"

Banjou smirked, holding the pads up once more. "Follow my instructions."

* * *

"Astounding…" Muttered Sento as I unwrapped the cloth from around my hands. I rolled my neck, a towel pressing against me as it soaked up the sweat from the back of my neck. "You're rate of improvement is a sight to behold." Sento shuddered for a moment. "It's like looking back at Banjou when he was first injected with Nebula Gas."

Banjou walked up next to me, handing me a water bottle which I immediately grabbed and drank from. I let out a breath as I lowered the bottle away from my mouth. "That's not a bad thing though, is it?"

"Currently, I can't see any reason why it would be." Said Sento, swiping along his tablet screen once more.

"I take it everything is going well then?" Asked a voice as the three of us turned to look towards the doors to the arena, Ozpin walking into the room with Gentaro in tow.

"From the looks of it." Said Sento, before he looked over to Ozpin's right. "Ah! You're!"

"Yo! Name's Kisaragi Gentaro!" Said Gentaro as he smiled. The man who would befriend everyone turned to look at all three of us. "I hope we become great friends!"

"This here is a good friend of mine. Gentaro has been working at beacon for a few years now." Said Ozpin.

"Uh, nice to meet you." Said Banjou, clearly confused. "Oi Sento, have we met this guy before? He seems oddly familiar."

"I don't think you ever met him outside of his suit, but we've met him before, or at least a different version of him." Said Sento, as Gentaro blinked.

"...Does the name Fourze mean anything to you?" I asked as Gentaro's eyes widened momentarily.

"Ah! Oz here said you'd be knowledgeable about things! Yeah, I was Kamen Rider Fourze." Said Gentaro.

"Was?" Asked Banjou.

Gentaro averted his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck, not elaborating. I widened my eyes before letting out a sigh of annoyance. "...You didn't." I said after a pause.

"Didn't what?" Asked Sento.

I let out a sigh, before shaking my head. "It's too late now, I can't yell at him about it…" I muttered to myself, before looking back up at Gentaro as I extended my right hand. "Well, it's nice to meet you!"

Gentaro nodded, before raising his hand and proceeded to do the one thing I should've realized he'd do when I extended my hand in the first place.

"...Is he okay?" Asked Gentaro as I stared blankly at my closed right hand.

"I think so…?" Sento said, crossing his arms. "He does this every now and then, but it's been a while since he did this last…"

"It's a little creepy honestly…" Banjou muttered, before knocking the back of my head with his knuckles. "Oi Bryce! You in there?"

"Ah- Uh, yeah… sorry." I said, before taking my scroll out of my pocket. I let in a breath of air, before turning to look at Banjou. "Ah shit! I gotta go!" I gave a quick wave as I grabbed my bag and ran out of the arena.

"...He seems nice." Gentaro said.

* * *

"Bryce!" Ruby yelled at me as I ran over to her. "You need to see this!"

"Need to see what?" I asked, only for her to drag me into her dorm regardless, where the rest of Team RWBY were sitting in front of the holographic TV screen in front of their window. "Hey guys, what's going on?"

"Take a look for yourself." Said Blake, motioning towards the TV with her head. I gave a shrug before sitting down in the middle of the four as a familiar news program came on screen.

" _This is Lisa Lavender reporting live from outside the property of the Dan Foundation. The Major Corporation has just declared its independence from the Kingdom of Vale. We will now show you Live footage of their ongoing press conference."_ Said the reporter, as the camera moved to face a man standing at the top of the building. He was wearing regal like clothes of rather japanese variety. It was his face that stopped the train of thought I was going through.

"WHAT!?" I exclaimed as I looked at the face of Dan Kuroto looking down at the crowd below him.

"You know him?" Asked Blake as she looked over at me.

"Not personally… but I have the worst feeling right now." I said, waving her off as I glued my eyes to the screen.

" _I am Kuroto Dan, President of the Dan Foundation._ " Proclaimed Kuruto Dan. " _Rather, formerily Kuroto Dan… For now I am Dan Kuroking!_ "

"...Well, at least it isn't a god complex…" I muttered with a sigh. "Though that doesn't exactly make the situation better…"

" _Listen now my subjects, hear me well!_ " Shouted Dan Kuroking. " _My company is now proclaiming its independence from the Kingdom of Vale! I will allow no objections! All property owned by me is now our own national territory! Here the laws of Vale do not apply!_ "

"Is he a lunatic?" Asked Weiss.

"...Uh… Yeah, pretty much." I answered.

" _Do you seriously think we'll stand for such lunacy!?"_ The voice of a male reporter cut in from the crowd below, before the whole crowd began to cry out as well.

" _Peon, you dare defy your king?_ " Asked Dan Kuroking, before he raised his right hand and snapped.

There was a moment of tense silence, before the reporter suddenly collapsed to his knees as an orange pixelated mist like substance began to pour out of him.

"Hey, doesn't that look like…!" Ruby said, pointing at the screen.

"Oh no…" I muttered, watching as the man's body transformed, his head turning a strange shade of orange while his body gained an almost skin tight black bodysuit. "It's the bugster mooks…"

"Mooks?" Asked Yang. "What's that mean?"

"It's a term used to describe the enemy cannon fodder a rider will have to fight to get to the main monster of the week." I said, looking back at the TV as more and more people transformed before breaking out of the trance to begin a rampage against the civilians around them.

" _Behold, that man is now my loyal servant!_ " Dan Kuroking proclaimed. " _And all who defy me will face the same punishment! HA HA HA HA! HA HA HA HA HA HA!_ "

"Shit, we need to go help them." I said, pushing off the ground as I turned to the dorm door.

"Woz!" I shouted, as the dorm room opened, my ever loyal servant with a pension for trolling walked in soon after.

"Waga Maou, you called for me?" Asked Woz, walking into the room.

"I need you to get me there as soon as possible. We need to hurry." I said, placing my Ziku Driver on my Waist.

 _ **[ZIKU DRIVER!]**_

"We're coming too!" Ruby said, as she walked up next to me with the rest of Team RWBY. "We need to help them!"

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Said Yang, punching her fist into her open palm.

"Very well… This might feel weird for first time fliers." Said Woz with a smirk as he grabbed onto his scarf and threw it towards us, the fabric stretching and twirling in an impossible manor before it closed in around us.

"Here we go!" I said, the fabric parting as we walked out into the battlefield of Bugsters and civilians.

"Ugh, I see what he meant now…" Weiss said as she stumbled for a step.

"Be careful, I don't know what you guys can do against the virus without causing harm to the host body, but I think I know someone who can help you guys." I said, taking out the Ex-Aid Ride Watch. I twisted the front plate of the ride watch before pressing in the activation button, the watch face coming to life as a rush of energy spread throughout my body.

 _ **{EX-AID!}**_

I rolled my shoulders as Parado formed back outside my body. "Parado, help Team RWBY. I'll go after Kuroto. They're going to need your help to separate the virus from the infected hosts."

"Hah… This will be a fun game then." Said Parado as he raised his arms into the air, as energy items spawned around the field. "We'll handle this, get going Bryce!"

"Got it!" I said, turning around as I charged towards the gate.

"Now then…" Parado began, as he looked at the now charging hoard of Bugsters. "Who's first?"

* * *

"Great, more bugsters!" I said, hopping over the stone wall on the west side of the property, as two bugster mooks stumbled towards two thoroughly terrified employees of the Dan Foundation. I cut in between the two and punched one of the bugsters back before kicking the second one off its feet. "Get moving, I'll hold them off!" I shouted, looking back at the two employees. They nodded before quickly getting the hell out of here.

I turned back to face my opponents as the two mooks stood back up. "Alright then, let's go." I said, taking the Zi-O Ride Watch off of the Holder. I twisted the face plate and pushed down on the button, watching as the Ride Watch activated before slotting it into the right slot of the driver.

 _ **{ZI-O!}**_

I raised my arms up as I got into position as the holographic clock formed behind me. " _ **HENSHIN!**_ " I shouted, swinging my left arm down as I spun the driver around. I raised my arms into an X before bringing them down as the henshin began.

 _ **[RIDER TIME!]**_

 _ **{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}**_

"Let's go!" I shouted, extending my open hand to the side as the Zikan Girade materialized next to me.

 _ **[ZIKAN GIRADE!]**_

 _ **[KEN!]**_

I closed my hand around my weapon as the two mooks got back to their feet. "This shouldn't take too long…" I said, slotting the Ex-Aid Ride Watch into the Zikan Girade. "Kimewaza…!"

 _ **[FINISH TIME!]**_

I grabbed the handle of the blade with my left hand, as I pulled the sword up two handed, sparks of green and pink energy forming around the blade. "Let's go!" I shouted, pulling down on the trigger as I swung out at the two bugsters, launching the built up energy at them in a wave.

 _ **{EX-AID}**_

 _ **[GIRI GIRI SLASH!]**_

The two bugsters almost immediately exploded upon contact with the attack. I stood up to a stand and pulled the Ex-Aid Ride Watch out of my sword as the dust settled, showing two Employees of the Dan Foundation lying on the ground.

"Oh shit…" I muttered as I ran over to the two, pulling out the Zi-O Watch as my henshin deactivated. I placed my index finger under one of their chins, and was rewarded with the pulsation of a heartbeat. "Oh good, they're breathing…"

I stood up and looked at the main building in front of me. Having gotten a much better look up close it was probably the most japanese looking house in all of Vale, a style I found out earlier was derived from the style commonly used in Mistral.

"Well… I have a few options…" i said to myself aloud. "...Dumb idea, but I could go up and ask for a job from him…"

"You're interested in serving Dan Kuroking?" Asked a female voice.

"Huh?" I turned my head to look at the woman standing next to me. I blinked, before breaking out in shock as I backpedaled. "GAH! When did you get there!?"

"Oh, just now! What's your name?" She asked.

"...Bryce… Bryce Bridged…" I said, looking at the bugster standing opposite of me.

"It's nice to meet you! I'm Poppy Pipopapo!" Said Poppy, spinning around.

I blinked as I looked at her. On the outside, I was mildly confused. On the inside…

' _HOW THE HELL ARE YOU HERE!?'_

 _HOW? HOW IS SHE HERE!? DIDN'T SHE GET ERASED WITH THE REST OF EX-AID'S TIMELINE!? BETTER YET, WHY THE HELL ARE THERE BUGSTERS EVERYWHERE!?_

"Um, hello?"

"Eh? Oh… uh, sorry… spaced out." I said, taking a step back as she hand leaned in a bit too close towards me. "Right, I don't suppose you'd be able to introduce me to your uh… boss? King? Whatever you refer to him by?"

"What is this commission?" Asked a voice as I leaned to the right to look past Poppy's shoulder. "It appears that there are those who would oppose my dominion."

"Dan Kuroking!" Poppy said as she turned around, looking at a figure clad in gold laced robes that was walking down the main staircase towards us. "This is Bryce, he says he wants to work for you!"

"So… You're Dan Kuroking?" I asked, keeping a level head as I looked at Kuroto.

"That is correct. I am Kuroto Dan, but upon gaining this newfound power, that name is merely an echo…" Dan Kuroking said, slumping his body forwards. "Now I have become…"

Dan Kuroking leaned his back up, his arms held out wide as he proclaimed his new name to the heavens. "DAN KUROKING!"

I felt a sudden chill run down my spine as Dan let a smile form on his face, before his body began to twitch with orange energy. "I AM THE KING!" He proclaimed, before the orange energy in his body began to turn to a dark purple, slowly engulfing him before releasing in a concentrated blast, forcing me to raise my arms to hold my ground.

I lowered my arms as I watched a rather familiar, yet distorted sight meet me, as a Purple Another Ex-Aid emerged from the smoke, the year 2016 displayed across his chest. " _So… you wish to serve me? Then prove your worth!_ " Another Gemn called out, as he took a step towards me, with his hand outstretched. " _Only those who have survived this have any right to serve me, all others are nothing more than simple peons!_ "

"Oh come on…" I muttered to myself, before Another Gemn's hand landed on my chest, and then, searing pain.

Wave after wave of what I saw to be different strains of the bugster virus rolled off my body, each one more painful than the last, before I felt my connection with Parado tug, and felt a red hot pain flare up through my body as the invading virus was cleansed and nullified. My eyes shone red for a moment, before a wave of air launched off my body, knocking back Another Gemn.

I stumbled as I regained my footing. I looked back up at Another Gemn, before a challenging smirk worked it's way onto my face. "So… Do I pass?"

* * *

"Note to self, ow…" I muttered, leaning up against a wall as I let out a breath. "Thanks for the assist, Parado…"

I let out a sigh as a mass of blue and red pixels flew out of my body, forming together in a matter of seconds as Parado leaned against the wall once he had materialized. "You really want to go through this plan?"

"I do." I answered, pushing off the wall. "It's the best way of figuring out everything, and I already got a decent plan on how to take him down."

"All right then." Parado said with a smirk, before he snapped his head to the side as he looked down the hall. "Someone's coming."

I pointed my fist towards Parado, who quickly bumped his knuckles against mine as he transformed into his virus state and merged with me. My eyes lit up red for a moment before dying down as I looked down the hall.

"Ah! There you are!" I blinked before turning around as Poppy ran up to me. "I need you to come with me quickly for a moment!"

"Huh?" I let out a breath, before the bugster grabbed my arm and pulled me along as she ran off down the hallway. "Woah!"

* * *

"I've brought him, Dan Kuroking!" Poppy said, pulling me forward by the arm as we walked up to the main balcony of the estate.

"Good." Kuroto said, turning to face me. "It appears an opportunity to prove your worth has arrived. Deal with them."

I walked up to the balcony, taking a look over the railing to see four very familiar blobs of red, white, black and yellow. "As you wish." I said, taking out the Zi-O Ride Watch as I hopped down from the balcony towards Team RWBY.

 _ **{ZI-O!}**_

" _ **HENSHIN!**_ " I shouted, slotting the Ride Watch and spinning the Ziku Driver around, activating the transformation as I continued my descent.

 _ **[RIDER TIME!]**_

 _ **{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}**_

I slammed into the ground in a crouched position as the Zi-O armour formed around me, neutralizing the impact of the landing. I stood up, my visor lit up as it connected with my helmet. "So… Who's first?"

"Bryce? What are you doing?" Asked Weiss.

"It's too hard of a story to explain, so I won't bother. Come." I said, holding my hand out.

 _ **[ZIKAN GIRADE!]**_

 _ **[KEN!]**_

I spun my sword around in my hand as I stared at the four huntresses in training. I didn't really want to fight them, but I needed to keep up appearances for now.

I had one shot at this, and this was a needed step.

Before any of us could move, the sound of squealing tires screeched out a red sports car pulled into the main entrance.

"The Tridoron?" I asked, before my eyes widened behind my helmet. "Oh shit…"

The door was quickly opened as Shinnosuke stepped out. "Girls, Stand down! I'll be taking things from here. Belt-San!" Shinnosuke shouted, placing the Drive Driver on his waist.

" _ **Okay! Start Your Engine!**_ " Belt-San said, as Shinnosuke twisted the ignition.

"Shinnosuke, I'm afraid I can't allow you to pass." I said, taking out the Cross-Z Ride Watch.

Shinnosuke's eyes narrowed, before he pulled out the Type Speed shift car. "Then I don't have much of a choice then, do I?" He asked, before flicking the shift car and slotting it into the brace on his left arm. He ratcheted the shift car forwards as the Drive Driver lit up. " _ **HENSHIN!**_ "

 _ **[DRIVE! TYPE: SPEED!]**_

I won't lie when I say how much it took for me to now gap in awe at the transformations of past riders, it never gets old. I rolled my neck slowly, feeling several pops along the base of my skull. "Let's go." I said, twisting the Cross-Z Ride Watch before pushing down on the activation button.

 _ **{Cross-Z!}**_

I inserted the ride watch into the left side of the Ziku Driver, before quickly slamming down on the release button of the driver and spinning it around for a full 360.

 _ **[RIDER TIME!]**_

 _ **{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}**_

 _ **[ARMOUR TIME!]**_

 _ **{WAKE UP BURNING! CROSS-Z!}**_

I pulled the Zikan Girade up in front of me as the Cross-Z armour formed around me,

Drive responded in kind, gripping both sides of the handle-ken. I let out a breath before charging forwards, kicking off the ground in a burst of speed as I swung my sword to the side, my blade clashing against Drive's. "What's gotten into you!?" Drive asked, knocking my sword to the side before bringing his sword up, twisting the steering wheel once.

 _ **[Turn!]**_

Drive slammed his hand against the center of the wheel, as a car horn blared out from the blade.

 _ **[Drift Kaiten!]**_

I brought my sword up to block, but it was knocked to the side by Drive's initial strike, before he spun around, his blade connected with the Cross-Z armour multiple times, sending me flying back.

I landed on my back, before quickly rolling to a stand, by sword held at my side. "Alright, I guess we're not playing then…" I muttered, before quickly pulling the Cross-Z Ride Watch off my belt and placing it into the Zikan Girade.

 _ **[FINISH TIME!]**_

"Million slash…" I muttered to myself, pulling the trigger on the handle as my blade erupted into a wave of blue fire, which I quickly swung towards Drive.

 _ **{CROSS-Z!}**_

 _ **[GIRI! GIRI! SLASH!]**_

It was almost instantaneous, as Drive suddenly vanished from view, avoiding my attack entirely. I blinked behind my helmet as I stood up, before the sounds of Krim Steinbelt's voice rang out through the air.

 _ **[HISSATSU!]**_

 _ **[FULL THROTTLE!]**_

 _ **[SPEED!]**_

I felt a sudden force slam into my back, before multiple more kicks connected with my armour from all sides as Drive rebounded all around me before he flew towards me once more, slamming his boot into my chest as I was sent flying back, my armour disappearing as I hit the ground and rolled.

I let out a gasp as I struggled to my feet, before two hands grabbed onto the front of my shirt, pulling me up to see Drive's helmet. "Why? Why are you doing this?"

I let out a light chuckle, before giving a look to the side to see Kuroto looking over at me. I looked back at Drive, before pulling my face over to the side of his helmet. "I have a plan, I'm only faking it. Play along, I have this under control." I whispered, before pulling back. I raised my foot up and slammed it into Drive's tire, forcing his grip off me as I took a step back. "Wouldn't you like to know!" I shouted aloud, grinning as I pushed down on the Ex-Aid Ride Watch's activation button.

 _ **{Ex-Aid!}**_

My eyes glowed red, putting on quite a show for my temporary teammates. I blinked suddenly, before a crowd of bugster grunts ran past me, charging at the 5 present individuals.

"What the-!?" Weiss asked as she readied her rapier.

"Everyone, get back, we'll regroup later!" Drive shouted, giving me a subtle nod as he forced the four huntresses in training back.

I let out a breath as I turned to face an approaching Kuroto. "Thank you for the assist." I said, bowing slightly.

"I expected better from you, I wasn't expecting to face such resistance." Kuroto said, looking down at me.

I raised myself to a stand as I looked to the right. "Drive will be a problem… Enough of one that I think… You might have some trouble, even at your current level of power."

I held my ground as Kuroto glared at me fiercely, a look that protrayd every intent to murder me if I didn't explain myself right at this moment. "But… I might have a solution… Not here though, too… open, if you understand."

"Very well… show your king what it is you're referring too." Kuroto ordered.

* * *

"I believe I know a way to increase your powers." I said, kneeling in front of Kuroto. We had arrived in the throne room, and now was as good as time as any to get things rolling. "It involves one of these…"

I held out a blank Ride Watch towards him, taking some subtle notes from Woz as I held it out to him like a crown.

"And what exactly will this do?" He asked, picking the item up.

"To put it bluntly, when you… synchronize with it, the Ride Watch will unleash a new kind of power inside of you." I said, looking up at Kuroto.

"Is that so?" Kuroto asked, looking at the Watch. "...I see no reason to believe what you are saying, in fact I have half the mind to execute you after your performance earlier."

"My lord, allow me to ask you one question then?" I said, bowing once more. Here we go. "If you do this, you'll be able to embrace the power on the same scale as the gods."

I looked up with a slight smirk. "And what exactly is a king to a god?"

There was a brief moment of silence, before a bright purple light shone from the Ride Watch, as Kuroto looked down on the now formed Gemn Ride Watch. "From this moment on… I am no longer Dan Kuroking! I am Shin Dan Kuruto Da!"

That… was my cue.

I kicked off the ground as I swung my left leg up, swinging it into the back of Kuroto's hand as he let go of the Ride Watch with a startled cry of pain. I looked up and raised my hand up, grabbing the fallen Ride Watch in my left hand. "Oh… there we go…" I said, twisting the Ride Watch in my hand. "You would not BELIEVE how long it took to set that up."

"You insolent-!" Kuroto growled out. "You dare defy a GOD!?"

"Well, at least that's back to normal…" I muttered, placing the Gemn Ride Watch onto the Holder. I brought my Zi-O Ride Watch up to my side, twisting the dial. "Let's get this over with."

Before I could push the button down, Kuroto suddenly froze, as a glitchy field appeared around me, a sight I had seen before. "Time jacker!" I shouted, turning around to find a hooded figure standing behind me, giving me a very sarcastic slow clap.

" _I must say, that was a very pleasant surprise you had in store there._ " The hooded figure said, his voice seemingly filtered through some kind of voice modifier or changer. He lifted his head up, showing off a mask of white and pink, eerily similar to Zi-O's helmet, the three Japanese Characters for Rider clear as day on the front. " _Using Kuroto's madness against him, not bad Zi-O."_

"Who are you!" I asked, keeping my eyes on him.

" _Who? Me?"_ He asked, tilting his head. " _Right, introductions… Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sougo Tokiwa. It's a pleasure to meet you._ "

I felt myself pause as I took the name in. "Sougo? Why are you working with the Time Jackers?" I asked.

" _Oh, simple story really, I was bored back home and Swartz came along and gave me an opportunity to… well do all this._ " Sougo motioned around him with his arms. " _That said, it also lets me focus on my true goals, aside from Swartz' goals of course."_

"And those are?" I asked, placing a hand against my driver on my waist.

" _...The destruction of Oma Zi-O, of course._ " He said, as I felt a glare so intense suddenly land down on me. " _And there's really only one way to beat him… And I feel like, I have the best shot at that._ "

I let out a grunt as I pushed down on the Zi-O Ride Watch's activation button.

 _ **{ZI-O!}**_

" _Ooh, did I scare you there? Don't worry, Zi-O, you're not my problem yet. You keep doing what you're doing, and I'll see you around later. Until then, Chao!"_ Sougo flicked his right hand out beside his head, before I felt time stop suddenly for me as well, as he suddenly disappeared from view.

"Dammit!" I shouted, gritting my teeth.

 _ **{GEMN!}**_

I blinked as I turned around, the form of Another Gemn standing behind me. "Oh… Right, you." I said, slotting the Zi-O Ride Watch into the driver, pushing down on the release button as the holographic clock formed behind me. " _ **HENSHIN!**_ " I shouted, pulling the left side of the driver to the right, as the driver sounded out a bell as Gemn crashed against the watch bands that formed around me, morphing my armour onto me, and sending him back.

 _ **[RIDER TIME!]**_

 _ **{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}**_

"Alright, let's fell a god then." I said, charging at Another Gemn, grabbing onto him as I pulled him into the air, sending the both of us through the nearby window as we soared down towards the courtyard. I let go and flipped myself right side up, landing on the ground upright as Another Gemn crashed down onto the ground.

"Huh, Bryce!?" I heard a familiar voice ask to my right, as I turned to see Ruby and the rest of her team off to the side.

"Hey guys, real quick, keep those Bugsters off me if any show up!" I shouted over to them, before turning back to Another Gemn just in time to see him throw one of his fists at my face. "Woah!" I leaned back, falling onto my back, narrowly avoiding the attack before I quickly rolled over myself back onto my feet. "Alright then, let's do this."

I pulled the Gemn Ride Watch off the holder, before I twisted the dial and activated the dark Ride Watch.

 _ **{GEMN!}**_

" _You dare use God's power against him!?"_ Another Gemn roared out.

"Yeah, get used to it." I said, slapping the Ride Watch into the left side of the driver. "Grade 0, _**Henshin.**_ "

I slammed down on the release button and spun the driver around, watching as the Gemn Armour formed on my left.

 _ **[RIDER TIME!]**_

 _ **{KAMEN RIDER! ZI-O!}**_

The armour split apart, flying into the air before quickly latching onto the Zi-O armour, forming over it as I walked forwards. Purple Japanese characters slammed into the armoured helmet of the Gemn Armour, forming the word Gemn over the visor.

 _ **[ARMOUR TIME!]**_

 _ **{LEVEL UP! GEMN!}**_

I rolled my neck, throwing my arms out to the side before getting into a combat stance. "I'll clear this game even if I have to use continues." I quoted, looking at Another Gemn standing opposite me.

 **(Play Kamen Rider Zi-O Battle Theme [REJOICE!])**

" _ **Rejoice!**_ " I let out a sigh with a smile on my face as Woz stepped up to my right. "The one to inherit all Rider Powers… The one and ONLY king, who will rule over the past and the future. And his name is Kamen Rider Zi-O, Gemn Armour. This is the moment he will strike down the usurper!"

"You… have been waiting for that, haven't you?" I asked, tilting my head to look at Woz.

"My lord, I wish you luck." Woz said, stepping back.

"Sure, ignore my question." I muttered, shaking my head.

Unbeknownst to me, the Time Jacker Sougo stood off to the side, watching over the fight. " _Well then, let's see how this turns out…_ " Sougo said to himself, before pulling out a scroll and pushing down on the play button.

 **(Play Wish In The Dark - Hiroyuki Takami)**

I blinked as the familiar inset song rang through the air. "I didn't… Eh, whatever." I said, smiling under my helmet as I charged forwards, bringing my fist up to my side before throwing a fist into Another Gemn's chest, an exclamation mark of 'Hit!' appearing immediately after.

I brought my other arm up and did the same, electing another 'Hit' marker before continuing my barrage, sending punch after punch into Another Gemn's body.

" _Enough of this!"_ Another Gemn shouted, before he threw his arm out, spawning a large group of Bugster mooks. " _Get him!"_

"Gonna have to do better than that!" I shouted, holding my arm out to the side as my sword formed in my hand.

 _ **[ZIKAN GIRADE!]**_

 _ **[KEN!]**_

I swung my blade through each Bugster that came at me, quickly dispatching one after another. Unfortunately, for every one I took down, another seemed to appear in its place. I let out a grunt as I hopped back away from the onslaught of Bugsters, before two dropped in front of me suddenly, an action accompanied by the sounds of rifle shots flying through the air.

"What the-!?" I snapped my head to the side to see Ruby pulling the slide back on Crescent Rose, loading another bullet into the chamber. Weiss and Blake ran up next to her, readying their weapons.

"We got these guys!" Ruby shouted, as a yellow streak passed by me, before the sound of a shotgun blast went off to my left.

"Come get some!" Yang shouted, slamming her knuckles together as she punched one of the other Bugsters in the crowd.

"Thanks for the assist!" I shouted, running past the crowd of mooks towards Another Gemn. The Another Rider let out a roar as it posed dramatically, before it followed suit, charging at me. I ducked to the right, slamming my fist down on the top button of the Zikan Girade.

 _ **[TIME CHARGE! 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… ZERO TIME!]**_

I tensed my muscles, gripping my sword tighter as the countdown ticked on. I brought the sword to my side before pulling the trigger, swinging the blade upwards, striking hard against Another Gemn's torso, knocking him back.

 _ **[GIRI! GIRI! GIRI!]**_

I rolled my neck as I tossed the sword aside. "Alright, let's end this." I said, pushing down on the activation buttons on both Ride Watches slotted into my driver.

 _ **{FINISH TIME!}**_

 _ **{GEMN!}**_

I slammed my fist down on the release button, before grabbing both sides of the driver and pulling, spinning the driver around as I crouched down.

 _ **{CRITICAL!}**_

 _ **{TIME BREAK!}**_

I had to stiffle a laugh as a purple pipe with the word: Continue, on it appeared before me. I jumped forwards, landing inside of the pipe, before reappearing behind Another Gemn, flying out of another formed pipe as my foot slammed into it's back. I passed by, before another pipe formed and the process repeated.

I slid to a stop behind Another Gemn, before slowly standing up, the sounds of hit markers and explosions behind me made for a decent sound all things considered.

I turned around, watching as Another Gemn fell to the ground, glowing bright before Kuroto returned back to normal. "No… I can't lose… I am… I am a god…!" He shouted, reaching out towards the Another Gemn Watch that sat in front of him. His hand grazed the edge of it, before it suddenly shattered, breaking into a million pieces. Kuroto looked on in shock, before his injuries finally caught up to him and he passed out.

I let out a sigh as I pulled the Gemn Ride Watch and the Zi-O Ride watch off my belt. I placed the Zi-O Ride Watch back onto the holder, before flipping the Gemn Ride Watch up into the air. "Well, that ended pretty good, all things considered."

There was a sudden flash of red, before I felt something heavy crash into me, knocking me onto the ground. "Ugh! What the…" I blinked looking up at Ruby. "Ruby?"

"Are you okay? You're not evil anymore are you? Don't worry, I'll beat the red eyes out of you Bryce!" Ruby shouted, raising one of her arms up.

"I was faking! Don't punch me please!" I shouted, raising my empty hands up in surrender.

"Oh…" Ruby nodded, before quickly moving up to a stand in a flurry of rose petals.

I let out a sigh as I stood up, dusting my clothes down as I looked over at the rest of Team RWBY. "Huh, you guys made short work of those guys, huh?"

"Yep, though a few did kinda go poof when you took this guy down." Ruby said, lightly kicking Kuroto in the side.

"Yeah, I figured as much there." I said, rolling my neck. "Right… We should… probably call Shinnosuke to come take this guy in…"

* * *

 _The courtyard was empty, marked with fresh police tape around the perimeter saying: Keep out._

 _There, off to the side, unnoticed by everyone, was the Gemn Ride Watch, discarded and forgotten during the cleanup. A hand of red and yellow suddenly reached down and grabbed it, pulling the Ride Watch off the ground._

" _I finally found you..." The male voice said, clenching down on the Ride Watch. "For the sake of the future, I will destroy you, Ohma Zi-O..."_

 _Off to the side, Sougo stood, watching the man in red armour walk off. "And here you are at last. I was wondering where you were, Geiz…"_


End file.
